Learning to Soar: Shippuuden
by AFriendlyNeighborhoodDog5
Summary: Does fickle fate ever get in the way? Does chance have you at low winning odds? Do your choices even matter or even get you punished? This is my story and I live it regardless. Sometimes you just must go with the flow, be with the water current, and live your life like there's no tomorrow. What if you become a Ninja? You'll have to Learn to Soar!(Chapter 13/36?)
1. Beginning Arc - Episode 1

**Edit - Sorry this author note has been taken down due to a change of plans.**

 **...**

 **Chapter 1 - Ad'day's Anew**

Life's like a fickle, feisty fox, isn't it? In the next life I met one, too.

That day stuck out in my mind. Well, I had just got my driver's license… and WHAM—I smacked straight into the guy in front of me on the highway with no hope of surviving or stopping beforehand. The bits and pieces that I still had in my memory were still there. I knew that the shock kept me going, and all that I remembered after that was being spliced in two by a large piece of metal the hood of my 2001 Malibu. Blood leaked out of my abdomen, and no amount of stitches could put my innards back in place. The pain was at least numbed by the adrenaline, or I could have been fading out of existence. One of the two.

Eventually I did fade out of existence. Here it comes… if I burn in hell just because I didn't believe in God, then those stupid Christian beliefs would be beyond what I could believe. Very paradoxical, right? Guess that's why I went to hell…

But something like a realization of a completely different life than my own came before me in flashes, and lord knows what happened after that. I may have lived just totally different life without even knowing, but the flashing before my eyes seemed to stop at a small little girl sitting out on a cold night street, shivering and curled up in a ball. I opened my eyes slowly and began to feel weakness in my body. I was laying on the ground on my side. My hip and neck hurt because of the wreck, right? But I was just sleeping, and laying there. I knew when you went camping that you had to bring a sleep-pad or you were going to be very sore in the morning. When I sat up, and tried to make sense it all. I felt hungry and weak by instinct, and was so confused that I missed the sun starting to rise in the distance.

I sat up looked down at my clothing, and it was a dirty white blouse with fitted-style white capris. Um… did I forget to mention I had no idea why I was dressed like a girl who was in her night clothing. Well, my hair may be short and spiky, and apparently greyish-black, but I wasn't myself, and I was so confused. I needed to roll with it, maybe, because now I see why I was having those memory flashes, and somehow everything made sense. I was in a completely different world. However, basic needs first, then I can worry about my situation later; it left my mind, and wanted needed drink of water.

However, someone stopped, took one look at me, and he smiled at me. I smiled at him.

"Hello. Are you alone?" he said in a gruff, tone of voice.

I had practically forgotten how to talk at this point, so I just replied. "Auhh."

"Really… should a little girl be out here alone? Where are your parents?" said the man matter-o-factly.

The man in the long robes, which I knew was someone called "Hokage", knelt and said… "Come with me—don't be scared."

"Are you… um, Hokage?" I asked. He took my hand, pulled me off the ground, we started to walk together.

"I am he."

He walked with me and we arrived at a structure just below a familiar, Mount Rushmore type outcrop jutting from the wall of this important mountain. The structure was bigger than I could have imagined, and the mountain faces even more so… I knew exactly where I was now.

I was in _Naruto._

 _Give me a break._ I thought, pouting like a child.

"Why are you so unhappy?" the Hokage asked. I should have guessed this was Hiruzin Sarutobi, but my memory had faded to a degree over the five years living in the Naruto World subconsciously through the powers of reincarnation. I just didn't want to believe it… "You must be hungry. Come with me, little one."

…

A few days went by fast as I sat in the Hokage's office—I was offered food and a couple a mints on the Hokage's desk. You can count on Ojijisan and any other old person to have stale peppermints in both their work and home. Trying to keep sanity with books, I could barely read them because of the language barrier and the fact I was 5, but somehow, I wasn't so stupid that I didn't know how read at all.

I learned that I came from a children's home down the street, and no one decided to look for me. I was put back in another home, and it seemed to be a lot nicer, but the people there treated me like an annoyance. It wasn't all bad since I had made some friends, but no friend ever stayed around long enough since they would always be adopted before I could get a chance to know them. That or they ignored me after a while.

An Anbu came to visit me every now and again, and he was one of the shortest Anbu I had ever seen. Itachi Uchiha, before he killed his clan. Showed him my ninja skills, and he agreed to work with me on them.

"So, you already know how to use real weapons, Makoto?" said Itachi as I swiped a kunai from his hand. He must have not remembered the last time when I used his tools. I must not have stuck out in his mind, or maybe he was just making sure I didn't try anything dangerous… or maybe he just forgot! I didn't care, he was probably thinking both ways anyway.

"Yeah, wanna see?" I said, "Sometimes Mai who's in the academy lets me try."

"I Mai nice to you?" said Itachi.

"Sort of… she's sort of the one who tells me to do bad stuff." I said

"Don't listen to her then."

"I know! But she makes me do them."

Itachi sighed, "Shall I contact the Hokage?"

"Fine… I know that she really doesn't make me…" I sighed as well.

Some of the kids on the playground came to watch, and they all shouted disbelief.

"Hey, kid, do you think you can throw something like that?" said one of them, who looked about Academy-age. "You might hurt yourself, ha!"

Itachi stood up for me and whipped out another kunai, "Why don't we just see? Can I go first and show you how it's done?"

"Of course! Their your weapons Itachi-san!" I closed my eyes and smiled.

It felt totally weird that I knew how to use a weapon of any kind. However, I had increased motor coordination as a Naruto character, plus stronger bones, muscles, and surface skin, along with more intelligence than the average 5-year-old. Of course, it was all limited. The best thing that a child like me could do was throw for a bullseye at the target.

Itachi had done one handed handstand, a front flip, and attached a kunai to his foot with chakra. It was his foot that came down on the target, and somehow he managed a bullseye.

Wow… he was good. The kids around us were speechless. "Hey, that was really cool!" I said, smiling and balling my fists out in front.

I didn't know why my whole body felt heavy suddenly. _What the heck was this?_ I thought as my head hurt excruciatingly. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I knew I had to do the same thing as Itachi however I didn't want to try. Even still something was telling me all my practicing I did with him previous gave me the confidence and _ability_ to do so. It was so weird…

Getting on my hand to get into position, I placed the kunai on my foot, attaching it with chakra, then jumped with my hand and flipped. I hear a resounding _clunk._

Itachi clapped slowly, all the kids were stunned. It wasn't a bullseye, but I seemed to have got the idea. The three or four kids that were older than me immediately asked, "Can you show me how to do that?"

"It's something only Itachi-dono and I can do." I said.

"No way, you had to learn how to do that somehow." said another one of the kids.

"Actually, she didn't learn it from me… she managed copy it somehow." Itachi was mesmerized. "But don't worry, I'll teach it to every one of you next time." he said, "Goodbye, I'll see you guys later." he disappeared into a flurry of wind.

The kid who was teasing me earlier came up to me and said, "You did that on your own? And somehow you copied it?"

I smiled.

"Yup."

…

That's the end of this chapter! Hope everybody was pleased.


	2. Episode 2

**Chapter 2 - Do I Pass...?**

Now that I started the Academy, I didn't expect to be shell shocked. Yeah, I was intelligent and knowledgeable after my readings of the fascinating history and literature of the books in the Naruto world, but that wasn't what shocked me. I expected the Academy to be easy as training with Itachi had been, but I had barely been to public school.

Since my parents on Earth knew public school would ruin me like my two older siblings, I was homeschooled all my life and was sheltered because of it. But a military school like The Academy was hell on Naruto. Not only did they work you to death mentally trying to cram 12 years of school into 6, you had to be physically active every day and train for hours at school.

Sparring seem to be endless even though I did well with it, but this stupid nameless teacher always lined me up in the drills with the toughest of my class—Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba, and especially Sasuke. I had a thing for Sasuke. I let him win sometimes so he would still like me. Really It was because of a stupid crush since I was the stronger.

And Naruto? Usually he was my assigned partner and he usually just fell flat on his face when we were younger. Naruto just gave me practice evading his predictable and arduous movements. The only reason why I could out pace him was speed and minimalist movements—I didn't even have to stop and think about what I was doing most of the time.

When the Uchiha Massacre came around the bend, I somehow knew it happened. Itachi promised he'd help me with my Shuriken Technique since I was sort of good at it, and one day he and his little brother Sasuke just vanished. Sasuke came back to school a couple week later and the girls and I were relieved. Apparently, he became very hostile to all of us, and I began to think no one noticed except for me.

Years later, Sasuke was always a loner, but now he just seemed to be more aloof than he could have been at this stage in his life. It wasn't long before I started to look elsewhere for entertainment to my girlish fantasies.

I began to help Naruto out.

"So, what is it today, Naruto-kun?" I said as we stood in the dirt field.

"Teach me that Shadow Clone Jutsu."

I looked at him and sighed. "Alright, but I warn you, Iruka won't let you use it on any tests."

"Screw Iruka." he said.

I giggled, I felt the same way.

"Alright! Let's do it!"

I didn't want to bore you with the details… even though I was already saying enough at it was. Naruto managed to get it within an hour because he was a fast learner… and I mean it when I say fast. But he couldn't make more than 21 clones after that day of training. I thought it was because he didn't try.

"Alright, so I'm ready for the Graduation Exam, right, Makoto?" he said finally, balling his fist out in front.

"Yeah, good job, Naruto-kun!" I smiled, but then I thought about the future, and how unfair it was. I might have even screwed things up more for me by befriending Naruto.

Before I came into this world and played around with the different aspects of it, Naruto was practically nothing, and even Iruka hated him at one time. Now I could see that was a ruse, Iruka did start to value his student. The class had also seen his progress, but were in disbelief to how strong he was because he didn't get good grades. Even though I helped him like Iruka, it wasn't because of a selfless love that I didn't have. I couldn't provide for Naruto—my own hatred and fear for losing what made me happy was all just a plot to keep myself from being lonely…

Was I this selfish that I couldn't let go?

"Hey, um, Naruto-kun… I don't mean to be blunt, but… will you remember me if we're on different teams?" I said, kicking the dirt.

Naruto scratched his chin. "Eh, I guess."

"You must not have heard me… I'm worried about losing you as a friend." I said, stomping and balling my fists at my sides. "Even if we're on the same team, you wouldn't care, would you?"

Naruto frowned. "I didn't know what to think when you said that. Of course I would care, but we're not that close, are we? I don't think you should worry, I don't want to think about it myself, Makoto."

"Exactly, you never think, you never thought of me as a friend, and what makes you believe that Iruka would let you use this Jutsu for your test? What if he fails you? Will you still be my friend? I feel like you used me to get so strong…"

PMS and hormones may be affecting me right now, but I didn't care because I was so mad that he was treating this as a minor problem. Never seeing him again made me feel so angry, and I really didn't know why this had to be so unfair. Did he care? I thought not. Was I overreacting? Maybe, but it was all true. That's why I a shouldn't care.

"I'm sorry Naruto. From now on, we're rivals. There's no way we can be friends—and even if you never see me again we're still only that to each other."

"Alright, fine!" said Naruto, looking away, "Just leave me alone."

And I went back home that day. He would never see my tears that were now streaming down my face, and there was no way I'd show them to him. No way.

…

On the day of graduation, I managed to pass the test easily. Even though Sasuke got top marks and Ino was next in line, I was a close third behind them.

You could say I was a bit of a prodigy, but really that just means I don't have to try hard. I did have a following of boys frothing at the mouth to be by my side, though…

Over at the end next month, I went through Ninja Orientation, and I was called out for team seven instead of Sakura. I thought since maybe this was a sign of what's to come now that I was on a team with both the blond and the Irritable One, as I liked to call the raven-haired bastard. I wondered how Sasuke could be Itachi's brother. Still, I didn't want to screw up the survival training because I knew were going to pass that anyway. I already knew the secret… I just had to act like a dumbass like the rest of my team.

When we met Kakashi at the training ground, we all stood single file and he pulled out two silver bells and began to give us the whole deal.

"Alright, so I have 2 bells here, you all will have an even chance to win a bell by taking it from my belt. None or all of you have the same chance to win except only 2 people will pass this test and make it as ninja." he said.

"What's the deal! Why do only two of us get to pass?" I said furiously to the one-eyed bastard.

"Well… that's for me to know and for you to find out. You have until noon to face me and take it. If you don't come after me with all you got, you might as well be dead." he said.

I heard Naruto gulp and Sasuke grumble. I sighed.

"One, two, three, and..."

I noticed that Naruto didn't jump when Kakashi said, "Break."

Naruto was first up, I could see the glint in his eye to prove himself from my high branch up in one of the trees.

"Alright, the great Naruto Uzumaki-sama, future Hokage is going to wipe the floor with you!" said Naruto.

"Oh, really? But isn't this a dirt patch?" Kakashi let out a chuckle.

"Huh? Are you taunting me?" said Naruto, gritting his teeth.

"Obviously… you're not very smart, are you?" said Kakashi with lazy, aloof look in his eye. "They say those who laughs the loudest are always the ones who are never heard."

"That makes no sense!" said Naruto, "You ought to be afraid. Gah, there's no point in this."

Naruto took off with his arm drawn back to hopefully hit the bastard. Naruto was a bit quicker to the draw than the Canon, and I was proud to say it was because of me.

"Shinobi Basics, Lesson One, Taijutsu." Kakashi said. He looked like he was reaching for a weapon. I knew exactly what sensei was going to pull from his ninja pouch because I had seen this in the _Naruto_ manga.

Naruto jumped back and waited until he pulled it out. "What? A book, that's so lame, you must not know me. I'm the fastest kid in the class!"

"So, you're fast…" said Kakashi, "You're still predictable—"

Naruto shocked him by his speed, came up low, pulled out a kunai, and nearly did a finishing blow. It looked like it connected with his stomach and blood went everywhere, but the substitution kicked in and he appeared behind Naruto. Kakashi came up from below and the back and said, "Secret Technique, One Thousand Years of Death!"

Kakashi launched Naruto through the most awkward of ways, by way of butthole, and shot into the air. I imagined the embarrassment Naruto was feeling, so much so that I was feeling it to. At this point, it could have gone any other way and he still wouldn't have been able to best Kakashi.

Even though Naruto threw two Shuriken at Kakashi after Naruto landed in the the pond, it was like in the manga and he caught them by sticking his fingers in the hole of the Shuriken.

Naruto may be stupid and bad a Taijutsu, but somehow, he managed to be slightly faster than me. He also had more willpower and stamina than most—that made him both strong and able to last in a battle. I was kind of jealous that he could last this long against a Jonin, and even catch him by surprise like he will in just a second. The Clones shot out of the water, emerging from the depths and running at a speedy pace—it wasn't his full pace though. I just noticed, was he holding back?

"You won't be able to tear this book out of my hand if that's what you're thinking."

Naruto came up from behind and grabbed Kakashi! There's no way Kakashi let his guard down though, and after a big speech Naruto ended up punching himself, just like in the Canon. This time however he was quick to notice that this was a substitution, unlike in his canon counterpart. I can't begin to press enough that Naruto was stronger than most of our class.

Kakashi had found the spot I was hiding it since he was finished with Naruto. I took off into the woods and he followed. The one thing he didn't see was that I was almost as fast as Naruto, but Naruto held back. He could have seen a true fight with Naruto rather than wasting his time with me. But I was holding back more than Naruto, trying to not to show Kakashi my power yet and reducing the amount of stamina I was using—Naruto didn't do that.

We swung to a sunny dirt clearing and I spoke. "Don't waste your time with me."

"Why not? You seem to be the weakest of the bunch." Kakashi laughed with a sly mug.

I made the Shadow Clone Hand Seal and I made about a million of me.

"What is this…?"

"Naruto may be fast, but I've trained my stamina for years, and in this last month alone I practiced harder than ever."

"So… you're obviously going to lose. 1,000, or even 10,000 Shadow Clones will never get past a Jonin."

I leaped into action now that my clones went to dogpile Kakashi, I was sure that I got him, but there was a gust of wind, and my Shadow Clones were pushed back all the way to the trees with such force that my clones were wrecked up enough to disappear. He used the Great Breakthrough Technique to pop every clone out of existence.

I fell back on one of the trees, and the Shadow Clone Cognition made me nearly pass out. Kakashi sat on his calves in front of me and said, "You were too hasty. I'm a Jonin, remember? Even a Shadow Clone Technique of that magnitude would be flattened by a simple gust of wind because you didn't think things through."

"How was I supposed to know you had a Technique like that?"

"It's simple, Jonin work their entire lives to get the ability to use great techniques, and then they learn how to use them. You could have gotten away in the carnage, using your clones as a ruse to get away. Anyway, that's the end of the test. I already took care of the Uchiha brat earlier with my real body, but he showed both skill and brains, as I described to you. See you."

Kakashi's Clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Joke's on you, Kakashi, I pulled my hand up from below me, and saw that I had gotten a real bell. But I realistically he must have left one with his clone to give me a chance. Darn it, he was quicker and never let his guard down even once...

…

That's it for this chapter. I'm ready for chapter three, aren't you? Some of you will have to wait though, some won't if this message is old.


	3. End of Arc 0 - Episode 3

**Chapter 3 - A New Power, A New Cause**

You would think we would be all done with this test, but really—we're far from it.

"Sorry, Sasuke… Naruto…" I said. Sasuke groaned, and Naruto pouted and turn away as they both sat there and were tied up to their stumps.

I looked down at that one boxed lunch that should have been three. I skipped dinner last night, but not for the same reason as Sakura would. It's just I didn't have the money to buy groceries—I spent all my money from the monthly Orphan Fund on other things that I needed. I could go days without eating, and I guess Naruto survives on ramen, but we don't have the same tastes unfortunately.

"Alright, so, my little Genin, you managed to completely miss the point." said Kakashi giving a long, sarcastic slow clap.

"I had a feeling…" I said.

"Did you, now… care to explain?"

I knew was nearly as smart as Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke. In different ways, I was almost on par with Shikamaru, so Kakashi probably expected that I'd figure out a way to win.

"Firstly, they wouldn't put us in three man cells with a sensei if only two of the Genin participating would pass. It would lead to an unequal team as most teams usually have 4 members. This was all a joke to pit us against each other."

"What's your point, Makoto?" said Sasuke shooting me a deadly glare.

I turned to him frowned, "Well, the point of the mission was to see if we could get over our petty differences and have faith in one another to maybe have a shot at getting a bell."

"But… there's something you still all missed. This is because you guys are the worst team to ever take this test. The others before you were worse than you could imagine… because of this I think I'll tell you the truth, and lay it right out in front of you."

Naruto shouted out, "What!? Are you going to pass us?"

"Shut up, Naruto." said Sasuke.

"Well, no… because I recommend that one you drop out of the ninja program. Permanently. You think figuring out the point of the test afterward is going to help do you anything? Clearly you think you have it all figured out because you still missed the point—one of you will have to fail. Alright, cut free Sasuke or Naruto. It will be your choice who you will work with. You and your choice person will redo the test… I'll know if you release both of your teammates. I will be off to finish my book. Good-bye."

I started to eat my lunch.

"You obviously need to cut one of us free." said Sasuke.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" said Naruto.

I turned and glared at him. "Both of you aren't my friends. I was just put on this team because of your grades, Naruto. They pair the two overall strongest with the weakest student."

"Yeah right!" said Naruto, sounding sarcastic and looking at me angrily.

"I have to cut one of you though. Who will it be?" I said, smiling.

I ate one more bite of rice, and I placed it down and stood up. With two kunai in my hands, I flicked my wrists and both boys were in shock when both their ropes fell.

"Naruto, here. Take my bell. Sasuke, you do your best, I've decided on going back to the Academy to grow stronger. We may see each other again one day."

I handed Naruto the bell. "But why me and not Sasuke?" Naruto whined.

"Because, I've always felt connected to you, and when I try to lead people, all I do is fail. You're a true leader—you never listen to what I say, and do things your own way—everyone realizes you for it, and I think that's what a real leader is. I only tried to keep up with you, and that became my downfall."

"You can't be serious. If you knew my brother Itachi, then why did you give Naruto the bell? You obviously don't understand that he need to—"

"Shut up." I said. "You're not anything to me."

He looked at me, shocked. "Those eyes…" he said. But then what ever fear was on his face seemed to fade. I didn't understand, but I knew Sasuke saw something that I seemed to realize.

My eyes turned into the Sharingan.

Naruto frowned in a strange reaction to my words, "You're not alone. I know when I do things, I'm not perfect. Just look at my grades—some leader…"

"—Grades aren't what make a Shinobi, Naruto. It's choices you make on your own to become stronger than the rest, and sacrificing everything for your precious people. I think I've always been alone—and don't think this makes me your friend. But now I seem to understand why people try to lead other people, and now that I'm going back to the academy…" I said, looking down. "I think I'll always be alone."

Kakashi's voice appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Hm, you made a good point there, but actually, you won't be going back to the Academy. I'm sorry to say… but you all pass as my students. Makoto was truly selfless back there. But first things first, I have to report to the Hokage with Makoto." said Kakashi. "Makoto, come here and try to activate your Sharingan. Did you feel it when you snapped at Sasuke?"

I solemnly nodded.

…

"So, you're saying her Sharingan activated, but I see no prongs in one eye." said Old Man Hiruzen. "I can imagine that you must be very confused. You can stop saluting now, Makoto."

As we stood there in the office, he placed one hand on the stack of papers and picked up the top form.

"It may be because her father is a civilian. I did some quick digging, and it was he who signed the papers for the relinquishing of the birth rights, and he apparently gave you his surname, Nakamura." Hiruzen continued. "Obviously there's no close blood relation to the main family of the Uchiha, but the mother is still unnamed so I don't know how much ability you might have. Because that is the circumstance, it isn't possible for a name change quite yet, so I'm afraid I might have to bar you from using the Sharingan outside of training purposes."

"But why?" I said.

"Are you aware of the Hyuuga Incident and the murder of the entire Uchiha Clan? Since Konoha has two of the well-known Dojutsu, people will be after the Sharingan when you fight with anyone fitting the Uchiha description, and those eyes are a dead give away. I happen to know one person who would be in danger, and that's you." said the Hokage, "Now the Hyuuga Incident ended silently, without your classmate Hinata ever remembering it. But the genocide of the entire Uchiha Clan was left with only 3 known Sharingan users—your sensei, yourself, and the murderer of the Uchiha Clan, your cousin Itachi. And since Sasuke is also an Uchiha, he will eventually be hunted as well. Therefore, we need to proceed with caution."

"Alright, but how will I keep it to myself?" I said, exhausted from the fights and stress, and so I collapsed in the chair and began thinking. If I was a half-blooded Uchiha that means my ability to use the Sharingan would be greatly reduced. It was something that worried me, and since I can be hunted, I didn't want to ever use it.

"Well, in the first place, we need to train it—you should have enough stamina to use it for an extended time, and it only gets easier to use as you train it. I think, Hokage-sama, that I'll train her to master it within the next few months and allow her to copy all my repertoire of skills. Her other two teammates will be doing D-ranks until the start of the Chunin Exams."

"Agreed." said the Hokage.

…

 **A/N About the short chapter... many of the chapters that come at the end of the arcs will in fact be short unless there will be a big finish that will take more than 3000 words. Maybe the end of the Chunin Exams will bring more action. But if you expect a long boring training montage, I may be disappointing you, since I don't exactly know where to start.**


	4. Chunin and Beyond Arc - Episode 4

**So, you know it's about time for stats. If you don't know me (or don't care), I make stats for people to read and reflect on. To me, their a capping mechanism and a little less of a reflection since most of the time I don't want characters to** _ **appear**_ **stronger than they are.**

Makoto: Ninjutsu 2.5, Taijutsu 1.5, Genjutsu 2, Intelligence 2.5, Speed 2.5, Strength 1, Stamina 2.5, Hand Seals 2

…

 **Chapter 4 - The Weakness Inside of Me**

I woke up on a bright and clear day in the month of October, but I was feeling kind of ill because my birthday was coming up. I was born a few days before the Ninetails attack, and all I remember was being overwhelmed with a mass of chakra covering the air I breathed. It was horrible to witness such terrible ferocity, and I knew all the other babies could feel it as well as we stayed in the makeshift nursery within the catacombs of the Hokage faces. It kind of traumatized me in the sense that I never wanted to feel that much evil again.

Really though, my birthday was not how it should be, because it wasn't really my birthday. No one said happy birthday to me, no one got me presents or cards, and there certainly wasn't a family dinner with my happy, adoring parents wanting me to be happy on my special day. In fact, I hadn't even remembered my birthday for 3 years straight, or even my real birthday from my time on earth. Although somehow, Naruto managed to remember and send me a card to my address. It was written in hiragana and a few notable kanji he reused often. He writes so childishly… hmm.

That first October that I spent here when I was found on the street at five years old was the longest October ever. They replaced me in that children's home, and I began to develop an insecurity of a sort. It was just that all the children that just went in and out of these places, and somehow, I just managed to stay rooted in one spot. Since a lot of the kids were either afraid to make friends with me, or making fun of me in the orphanage, I wondered if that was just because of human nature or something different.

It didn't click right away, but I thought that I may have been a Jinchuuriki. I knew my chakra had been massive, but that wasn't because of the Kyuubi or any other spirit—it was because I trained for years to control and build chakra since I was always alone. Naruto came in later and we sparred and practiced jutsu, but without any direction, most of my training was wasted.

Now that I think of it, I had a recurring a dream of a hero, with dark grey hair violet eyes just staring lifelessly and bleeding from his kind smile, but it was burry like a baby's vision. He didn't look like Minato Namikaze at all, and I knew it was baby eyesight because I remembered being a baby from the flashes of memories from this world. But somehow, I think everyone forgot who the hero was, and he died nameless victim of a tragedy he had nothing to do with. I knew Naruto was supposed to be a Jinchuuriki, but I doubted that now as I had seen his performance in getting back up again. He was quite tired after all our training sessions with each other.

Now I don't want to bore you anymore than I must, but something about the way people judged me seemed to be more lenient than Naruto's treatment. Maybe because that hero was forgotten, I heard no one talk about him in my lessons at The Academy. Now was the time to do something about figuring things out…

I'll go see the Hokage.

…

"So, about this thing you wanted me to talk about with you… what is it do you need to know?"

I sat in a wooden chintz chair with arms, while he sat in his big office chair that looked more comfortable for a long talk.

"Who were my parents?" I said, he looked like he was trying to repress his emotions but a sad glint appeared in his eyes.

"Well, I don't really know." said Hiruzen, "But your mother died young and your father was great hero, but later we figured out that he wasn't who they said he was."

"You know all the shinobi of this village. If my father was a hero, why was he forgotten?" I said tilting my head down and looking at him out of the top of my eyelids.

The Hokage furrowed his brow in deep contemplation. It looked hard, but he was obviously he was in the right mind not to tell me. He thought I couldn't see it—that I partially knew the truth of my parents. However, I had lied for years about what I knew just to keep going.

Hiruzen finally let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Have you ever wondered about how the village treats you?" said Hiruzen. He probably expected shock, but I kept a straight face just as he did. "You have always been protected because of the identity of your parents."

I grimaced at his words. "You're right. I've never really had that much trouble, but I do notice when people look at me different because they stare coldly at me. I've never gotten hurt… but I've always been ostracized, and that made it hard to be friends with a lot of my peers in my age group."

"As I said, you are protected, and I guess I should start saying that the death of your father was forgotten because he never wanted to be remembered. He came from outside the village and had relations with your mother, who was very pregnant after 10 months. There is no way I can tell you who he was because he died so suddenly and was never in any records. I will tell you this—he did have you for a reason. He played all of us as fools and died." said Hiruzen.

"But why did this happen? What do you mean by 'sealing my fate'?" I said, growing more furious by minute.

"This is where I cannot tell you much more because it's an S-Class secret designed to keep you safe. When the time comes I'll tell you." said Hiruzen.

I immediately stood and stomped out the door.

I didn't want to go down quietly, though there wasn't much I could do. The Hokage stronger and more important than me, so I couldn't interrogate him. I've learned that by planting the seeds, the trees will follow. I'll just have to settle this later because I know It's the best way to eventually get what I want. He seemed to know the story of my mother and father a little more than what he let on, but who could either of my parents possibly be? No one really knows, and no one seems to care besides me.

And now, I must meet with my team. The Chunin Exams are upon us.

…

I've decided to make my initial and concluding chapters for an arc shorter than the rest. Just so I can have the beginning and the end of the arc closed and done with a little more rather than to carry on. Thanks. I'll see you next chapter.


	5. Episode 5

**Chapter 5 - The Fight Before The Storm**

"So, there she is." said a cool voice.

"Heeey! Sasuke!" I said, running up to his side and tackling him with a big hug. Naruto looked very confused as we all stood there outside The Academy Examination Building, and I went ahead and told him the truth. "We're dating now. Surprised?"

Naruto's eyes widened a little bit, and then they narrowed. "Yeah, right... why would you date your cousin?"

"It's something that Clans do. You wouldn't know, would you?" I said, slyly narrowing my eyes and smiling.

"Yeah, but why Sasuke!?" said Naruto, pointing at him, "You gave me the bell a couple of months ago!"

"I said you were a leader, not a follower!" I cracked up in a fit of giggles at my joke.

"Excuse me?" said Sasuke. "Well, alright, whatever you say, Makoto."

"Yeah, excuse you." I said. Sasuke shot me a nasty look

We walked into the big open room of the Academy where I used to hide away and read books and training scrolls before I had to go home and do homework. There was even an overhanging, lofty edge where I put my head to rest. But up there right now was a guy in a green jumpsuit, and he said, "Which one of you is Uchiha Makoto? Which one of you men is him?"

"Excuse me? I'm not a man." I said.

Lee seemed to be thinking hard. "Are you a woman you say? You have short hair and very defined muscles, plus you're practically a plank with legs and arms!"

I was about to say, "I'll kill you", but Naruto already beat me to the punch.

"So, you're saying that makes her a man?! I'll kill you, Caterpillar Brows!" Naruto launched forward and jumped into the air with 4 clones backing him up. Rock Lee soon jumped off all the clones, going from one to another, making them disappear and strategically jumped of the last one to deal a Konoha Whirlwind to his face, and he slammed into the wall. He did seem to pass out, but Lee didn't smack him hard enough to break any bones.

I managed I turn my Sharingan on just before he attacked Naruto.

"That move… I can't read it. What form of Taijutsu was that…" I said.

"That's because it isn't real Taijutsu." said another voice from above. "Lee, you didn't even tell us that you were going to find the new Uchiha. Is that her?"

It was Tenten, and she walked up to the side.

Neji soon followed and said as he just came into view, "Alright, but I warn you, Lee. Sensei will be most unpleased if you fight anymore."

"I'm not interested in anyone who can beat Naruto—I'm beyond stronger than that." I said.

Sasuke stepped up and said, "Well, just so you know, I'm also an Uchiha. Fight me first."

"Cool your jets Sasuke, I'll fight him…"

Neji smiled, "Well you seem 'beyond' confident. How about you spar? No ninjutsu, no weapons, and no problem… right? We'll let you use your Sharingan, since we want to see it in action."

"Sure." I said.

"But only with Lee—you'll probably lose against Neji." said Tenten, giggling, just a little.

Lee put his fist up with a certain glint in his eyes. "Alright, I will give more power to the power of youth!"

After Lee took off, I could see his movements. He used the same trick twice, but really it didn't surprise me because he slammed into the palm of my hand that I had just raised. Lee twisted around deal a punch to my face, but I tossed a punch into his own face with my new technique—chakra enhanced strength. He went flying to the other side of the room, but slid and quickly recovered. Lee was on his feet again and he went around the back of me faster than I could see. I jumped away, shocked… he was faster than thought. He came up behind me in the air and I couldn't see him anymore. Since I was still developing my Sharingan, it wasn't strong enough to follow his movements.

He released his arm wrappings, and I was getting a good feeling for the jutsu he was about to use. It was the Primary Lotus, but it was stopped by a kunai catching the arm wrappings.

"Oh god, here he is." whined Tenten.

Konoha's Green Beast came up to us in a puff of smoke. "Hey'ya, beautiful youths. LEE! Why did you show that Technique to an Uchiha nonetheless! She could have copied it and you wouldn't have known."

"I'm so sorry sensei!" said Lee, crying anime tears as we both landed.

"No, it is fine, Lee. No one was seriously injured… well, except maybe for the excitable youth laying against the wall."

Kakashi appeared out of a puff of smoke right by Naruto's side, and Naruto looked like a rag doll. "Alright, I'm impressed to see Makoto still standing, but Naruto is a piece of work." said Kakashi. "Our students seem to be mismatched in terms of Taijutsu since Naruto was predictable and Makoto wasn't at her element. But I'm a proud enough sensei to say Makoto wasn't even using her full strength because of the rules set upon our two students. If this were a ninjutsu battle, Makoto would have won."

"Really. That's kind of cool, actually." said Tenten, smiling. "Maybe you can beat Neji."

"No way! That powerful young youth has nothing on Neji!" said Guy.

"Come on, Naruto, we have a test to do." said Kakashi as he helped Naruto to his feet.

"Uh… what happened? Did I win?"

"Yeah, uh, no, Naruto. You missed the whole fight." I said.

Sasuke looked annoyed, "Uncool, Naruto."

We walked up the stairs after Naruto was up and came to some double doors.

"Alright, once you enter this room, there's no turning back. I suggest you should stick to your goal, which is to become a Chunin. Are you ready?"

"Ready." we all said, each of us louder than the last.

I bet there are Genin stronger than Lee in there. It worries me because I almost a month ago I started C-rank missions after my training, and I was already facing challenges. My fears of dying were heightened, control over my Sharingan powers was limited. I couldn't believe how strong robbers and highwaymen could be. Now with trained ninja, this would be the first time I'd face death if I wasn't careful. It was true because I couldn't control my situation, and I had to become a leader amongst these two, however I could barely even get them to listen to each other. They're like school girls, and let me tell you, I know what those evil bitches did to me for having a flat chest.

"Alright, enter at your own risk."

…

Okay, another short chapter, so in advance, FORGIVE ME! I would hope that it wasn't boring. I haven't really been feeling motivated to write lately, and my cousin who I haven't seen in 4 weeks is coming over to my place. He's one step away from moving to the other side of the country, but I still have some time since he can't find a lot of work for his journalism career. Don't trust me on this, because I think he still does copyediting.


	6. Episode 6

**Chapter 6 - The First Test**

…

So, you know when we entered the doors to the testing room? All the people in the room just turned their heads, and I'm like _hell no_.

"Heh-hey! Look who showed." said a familiar gravelly tone. He walked out of the back and ambled up to us and Shino and Hinata followed.

"Hey, there's dog-breath! How yah doin'?" I said.

"Hey, shut up flat-chest." said Kiba, "Have you not gone through puberty yet?" said Kiba. Akamaru yipped in agreement.

I walked up to him, got in his face and showed him who the bigger one was. He was only a little bit taller than Sasuke, but I had another 4 centimeters on my height than most girls, and so I was taller the dumb Kiba.

"Who's taller now, yeah? Grow a pair." I said. They backed off after I stared at Kiba and Akamaru with my Sharingan. I heard Akamaru whine in destress. Great scare tactics, if I do say so myself! Heh-heh…

"Sasuke-kun!" said another annoying voice, and her team followed as well. "Wow, looks like all nine of us are here, huh?"

"Well, I guess so." said Sasuke uncomfortably.

Ino then tackled Sasuke from the front.

"Okay, Ino, get off my man." I said.

"Soo, you're dating Sasuke now… jeez, why do clans always have to marry cousins? My mom wasn't even from my clan, and I got better grades than you flat-chest." said Ino.

"You want to fight? I'll hit you till your skin turns blue."

One more person came out the back the examination room and this guy was taller than any of us. Tallness is my strong suit, but he looked to be about 20 years old, which explained things. "Heeey—cool it. You guys are like a bunch of school girls. I guess your fresh out of the Academy, right? Kabuto's the name, okay? Good… I'm the welcoming committee and you're making a lot of goddamn noise with all the people in here. I would think that half the room was on this side."

"Hey, cool it yourself!" said Naruto, "Why are you named after a helmet anyway."

Kabuto's eyes lowered and he looked out from the top of his glasses. I remembered him being notoriously evil towards the end of _Naruto's_ canon. "So, I guess you're the up and coming team of rejects this year. Your sensei is Kakashi right?"

"Hey! Watch what you say in the presence of the next Hokage!" said Naruto. "I don't want to make this painful."

"That's right Naruto," I said, reaffirming him and smiling. "Hey, um, I guess you don't know, we're actually the best team our of all nine of us and we got a shot of making it to the end—hey! What the heck! Don't laugh." I said as I pouted childishly, and as I said, he was laughing.

"You're so naïve, you think you're a leader of the pack, don't you?" said Kabuto. "Not like graduating 3rd in your class ever made a difference, you're all newbies to me, and it's usually the newbies that get killed. You're looking at the full class from 8 years ago when I was newbie."

Everyone grew silent except for me. It was so weird to hear him say that, and I know he knows more than he's letting on. My eyes narrowed. "How do you know all this stuff about me."

"Because, I'm here to say I have everyone on file this year and you're not the only one I'm looking at."

Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards—ugh, what, was this _Yugioh_? I wonder if this is his idea of a bad joke as he laid one of the cards down on the floor. Kabuto can't know who I am to a 'T', but now I did remember a little bit from the canon series that these were his data collection. I'm having trouble remembering something I read over 12 years ago even though a lot of things do get through.

"Let's see… oh, you're a little nosy, want me to show you how it's done?" he said as I sat on the ground with my legs crossed and my hands clapped on my knees.

He went through a long explanation about the different village's Chunin Exams, the volume of people participating, and lot more dumb stuff that I didn't need to know. I imagine it was a waste of my time, so I went ahead and asked, "Do you have individual people in all this data collection?"

"Yes, indeed. Do you have anyone you're looking forward to fighting?" Kabuto said.

After Kabuto stood back up, I jumped to my feet and said, "What about Rock Lee, and his rival Neji Hyuuga? Can I see mine as well?"

"Certainly. Let's start with the Green Boy, as the card shows him wearing." he pulled out the top three cards I let out a confident tick, "You want to know him the most, I see."

"Alright, he seems to be a user of only Taijutsu, definitely a close quarters fighter, and a fellow Leaf Ninja. His other skills aren't great, and he isn't on the bright and sunny side of the mountain as he tends to rush into things. 10 C-ranks, 1 B-rank, and a nice amount of D-ranks. As for Neji, he's got the same amount of missions, and he is a user of the Byakugan, the first non-main-family user of many main-family techniques, which he all learned by photographic memory and practice. I would say he trained harder than you, Makoto." said Kabuto. His smile ticked me off.

"And about me?"

"You are… interesting. You're a well-rounded Shinobi without much hesitation to take on your first C-rank. You fought a band of thieves practically single handedly when you were alone with an important scroll, which needed to go straight to the next village over. Something about you is you're unable to work around your weakness, which is your Sharingan. It isn't fully developed, and it has taken twice as long to master what you have than any Uchiha I've in past years."

"What does those cards say about me?!" screamed Naruto.

"Nothing yet… I only collect data one people who are strong." said Kabuto. His creepy little laugh told me that he was lying—of course he had data on Naruto. He was probably the strongest person I know who hasn't received any special training…

"Alright you maggots, listen up, this will be the start of the 1st exam, so come up and get your number so you can move to the appropriately numbered seat." a voice commanded as he broke us up. He introduced himself— "My name is Ibiki Morino and I will be your first proctor for this 1st examination!"

Everyone started get up from their seats and headed to the front of the class. After I got my number, I sat in the correct seat and started to look at the test.

It was next to impossible to answer.

"For all you idiots you need to look over their test, look to the board first." said Ibiki.

Wow, that makes me feel great because I wonder if he meant me, but that's paranoia for you…

"For those of you who don't know about the 10th and final question on our test, you need to know that this question will be given out at end of the 1st exam, and will be harder to understand than any of these other questions combined. I want to mention also there's no cheating of any kind, and that's why I have these nice Chunin writing down the names of anyone who does." Ibiki gave a laugh.

I turned to my left and looked at the long-haired, female Chunin who was covering my row.

I started to look at the test again. Even though I was clever and charismatic at times, these kinds of questions didn't make any sense to me. I tried to remember this part of the series, but it faded long after 12 years. Since there was something about it, I didn't make assumptions and too quickly. I didn't know how this test worked. It could have been a ruse for all I knew. Wait…

My pencil stopped. It had something to do with Naruto. I looked to my right side and there he was.

"Psst, Naruto." I called.

Naruto looked to me, and I hoped I would remember. He gave a smile, "Thank god you're here… I don't know how to answer any of these questions—"

"You're pretty clueless if you didn't see me. Don't look at the questions. There's something wrong with this test, it's too hard. Remember, you're a leader, even if you're not… bright." I said, bowing my head to him.

"What do you mean?"

I shook my head. "Look, I know it has something to do with that 10th question, but I can't figure it out. Something doesn't make sense. I'm going to answer some of these questions, and you just sit tight until the 10th question. Don't even bother with this test."

"How do you know we won't fail?" Naruto frowned. "What if I can't answer the 10th question? Then I'll fail for sure."

I paused, "Then… we'll fail, but you got to trust me. I believe you can answer that last question better than any of us." I said, giving him a very subtle hint, but he didn't seem to get it. "Remember, you'll be Hokage one day, and I'll be right by your side when it happens. The Chunin Exams are only a small stepping stone."

"Thanks… but…"

"No buts." I said.

I finished out the 9th question, but there was one problem, Naruto wasn't looking confident at all. My pep talk should have bolstered up his courage, but instead he looked down at his test paper hopelessly. I didn't know what to do or what to say, but I knew it was kind of unfair since he didn't have any means of cheating or answering the questions. This wasn't multiple choice—you can just pick an answer and go with it.

"Naruto, it's okay…"

He continued to look down at his paper.

I had to do something.

"Hey, proctor guy. When is this test going to be done?" I said to Ibiki.

"Excuse me? Somehow you managed to finish early I see. You have 5 minutes left, are you ready to fail now?"

"Yeah, if can make me." I said. Heads turned to me again and whispers broke out.

"Alright, we'll finish early." said Ibiki. There were groans everywhere, but they sounded pained more than anything. "Now, if everyone who feels like they've cheated enough or couldn't answer a single question, I want you to raise their hands if feel like they can't answer the tenth question."

"Don't do this… Makoto." said Naruto. "Just please… don't do this…"

Naruto raised his shaky hand slightly. One by one, before Naruto had even moved his palm any higher, 9 teams raised their hands. He probably didn't want to let me down and maybe even Sasuke to a degree, and I heard people whine and cry on the way out. What wussies. But I wasn't afraid. I believed in Naruto and Sasuke not to be total idiots, and I know that Sasuke, who's now not a revenge driven maniac, to understand as well.

Naruto slammed his hand down on the desk, and he stood. "Alright, bring on the 10th question, I may be an idiot to you, but to me, I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

Ibiki laughed evilly, "Are you sure you want the 10th question, then?"

"Yeah! Bring it on!" said Naruto. "It's only one question, and there's a room full of us!"

"Alright, well…" Ibiki said.

"You all pass. There was no tenth question."

Ibiki had a smile on his face. "The reason why it was so hard to understand was that this was only a mind game. These Chunin marked your names down as you continued to cheat, but really it was only see if I could weed out the strongest teams from the weakest. That way, when they the strongest teams who didn't attempt to cheat or answer the questions at all, they would be weeded out further after the weakest member that would later raise their hand. I believe some of you can become Chunin now. But you'll have to survive this next part of the exam. Hmhmhmhm…"

"Also, one thing before you go… this is what keeping a secret and enduring torture can bring. If it can be traced back by anyone, that person can be killed. Look at what I had gone through and just imagine, any of you can end up like me," he took his bandana off and he showed us multiple places were scars of head screws, electrocution burns, and slashes all had been done on him.

I began to afraid, and I now understood a little more about what it means to be a ninja, and how enemy ninja will be after me. That would be lived out quite soon, as I knew The Forest of Death was coming next. God forbid what that place holds with plenty of other teams fighting to win the day. I believe that if anyone in my team dies it will be me because I don't know if I could do any of this. This is the first time I've seen fate just slap me in the face with death. Has just a little speech about the life of a ninja scared me? Yes, but I need to move on. But I feel like I can't…

They all cheered and with a small smile on my face, instead of feeling happy, I was scared I'd lead my team to The Forest of Death where Orochimaru would be waiting…

…

Okay, so I transitioned into the next part of the story (in other words Act 2) in this chapter. Now, I will only say this once! This is the 2nd part 1 arc and the last one will be coming right after the Chunin Exams—I know, only 3 arcs. Plus, I will briefly use a deep and meaningful problem in Act 2 and head straight into the other two parts of the act. There might be some filler afterward (training... yippee!) and maybe (I hope) some less common routes to introducing Jiraiya and Tsunade. There will also be a surprise! It's not a good one, just saying.


	7. Episode 7

**Chapter 7 - Shocking...**

"Alright! Hike up your asses and come over to the tent to receive your scroll!" said our next proctor, Anko.

"So, there's going to be a lot of carnage and bloodshed once you enter The Forest of Death. Luckily, not all of you will actually die… Hmhmhm…" said Anko as we all gather around the tent. "You will be sore, achy, hungry, and all those stupid things that kids like you complain about! So, anyone willing to quit now, I'll break your balls and make you go. Alright? Head towards your gate number, and if you forgot it—tough nuts."

"Right." I said, "Come on, let's go."

We walked around the circular gate and I wondered if Orochimaru was going to already be in there, waiting. A big sinking hole I my heart was beginning to reopen. Sasuke looked at me with concern.

But it was Naruto's question that started a firestorm.

"Hey, Sasuke. What about that man you wanted to kill… Remember? You said you wanted to kill someone the first day we were a team. Is he from your clan?"

"Naruto, that's a touchy subject…" I said.

"Makoto, it's okay. All that nonsense is behind me."

I knew it wasn't though. I just knew it.

"Naruto, if you want to know, it's actually not that I still want to kill him, it's more like there's no point. I am sort of jealous of Makoto for spending so much time with my brother, but what he said to me the night he murdered my clan was probably not true. I am stronger with my team anyway, and I don't want to ever be alone again." Sasuke looked over to me with a rare smile.

We arrived at the gate, and an intercom sounded from the top of it. "Alright, idiots, children, rejects, and some who are all three! This is you-know-who with a little tip—it's kill or be killed. No party favors for the children among you men and women! So, get your head on straight after the countdown. 3—" Honestly, I was nervous. I didn't know whether not to be, but I didn't want everyone to rely on me. So, I had to trust my team as much as they trust me—I couldn't do it alone.

"—2…" The suspense between her counting was long.

"1!" said Anko, "Get on with it and go-go-go!"

I heard a laugh on the intercom, "Ha-ha, what a way to see bloodshed, right?"

…

"Alright."

Sasuke sounded serious as we all sat on the forest floor. "We need to come up with a password, one that only we know. Makoto, turn your Sharingan on and scan the area to make sure no one's listening."

I smiled. "Right. I'm glad these eyes see through things… literally."

"Now, what's the password?" I said.

"Something like…" Sasuke whispered into our ears, one by one, "Tomatoes."

I blushed and giggled madly. "Okay, if that's are only idea, fine then."

"Right!" said Naruto. "That is kind of stupid though."

I turned my head around, still looking for possible chakra signals, and I saw a massive one not too far off.

"I think we have company."

"Who is it?" said Naruto stupidly.

"I can just see chakra, okay?" We all stood up. "He's fast!" I said, my heart was racing. "Goddamn. I've never seen speed like it before…"

Someone jumped over us down from the treetops. "So, you're the one who was watching me just a second ago…"

Orochimaru! There's no way I could forget that snake bastard. He was adorable when he was a kid and deplorable when he was an adult… all those people… disfigured, dead, or mutilated just for his own purposes. He wasn't supposed to be evil per say, but you can't tell you how evil he was to me.

My heart was wrenching inside my chest, and I didn't think this day would ever come to pass. Even though Sasuke and Naruto were by my side, we were all going to die… and I couldn't do a thing about it. Sasuke seemed to be cool and calm, but he didn't know what kind of threat this was—he still had his disguise on. Naruto seem to be a little jumpy, but only because he was ready.

Naruto was the first to jump in. His speed seemed to have increased… maybe we can do this! I should be brave… I must lead my team out of this mess that I started when I died all those years ago!

"Oh my, what a little fly…" that snake said.

When Naruto punched at Orochimaru, the snake smashed his fist much harder than I could imagine into his stomach. It couldn't be… Naruto? At that speed? He was stronger than all three of us combined… fu… oh god… goddamn.

"Naruto!" I said.

He landed on the other side of me and tumble rolled on the ground, but he quickly rolled got to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth. My eyes widened.

Naruto groaned in pain from his lower ribs, "Look here! You need to cool it, Makoto! It's just a bruise. There's nothing we can do if we're without you—instead of freaking out, just attack. I believe in you!"

But at this point was scared, and unable to do anything, I cried into my hands. I didn't want to die… I couldn't lead a horse to water… and how could I ever hope to lead us out of this confrontation—let alone out of this forest?

"Well-well, we now know the weakest of the bunch."

"I…" said.

"Makoto! Come on and fight—!"

"—I'll… I'll kill you!"

My sight was skewed for a moment, and then I felt my Sharingan kick in. I got on all fours, and start to charge.

"Hmhmhm… you've got a power within you."

I had just got with range of attacking, but instead of the intent, I was bit on the neck and I passed out from the pain of the bite. Or, at least I though.

…

"She's waking up!"

I writhed and squirmed, Naruto tried to help me out by holding me down… but he was unable to understand what happened.

"That mark…" said Naruto.

"Help me… Naruto… it hurts…" I said. I screamed at the top of my lungs and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Just sit tight…" said another voice…

His voice soothed me… then I felt someone hold my hand. I turned, withstanding the pain. "Sasuke…? Aghh… goddamnit, you look terrible… I'm so sorry."

"Just let me make one last wish." he said weakly. He coughed spurted a lot of blood, and a speck of it landed on my face.

"This is my final song. Please, kill my brother and any Uchiha that stands in your way… I'm so… sor—ack!"

But Sasuke couldn't finish.

"Sakura, they're over here!"

Sasuke closed his eyes, and I knew I received my Mangekyou. My sight increased and I had a fully mastered Sharingan now—I couldn't believe it, but I was seeing things now that were way different than they were before.

After a moment, Naruto and a familiar character walked into the structure I was in, which was a hollowed-out tree. The familiar pink-haired character, Sakura, seemed to be alone and not with a team.

"Sasuke…!" she gasped. "Makoto! How could you let him die…? Goddamn you! Damnit… this is bad. Both my teammates are dead, and now Sasuke too…?" Sakura dropped to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

Sitting up, lightheaded, my eyes were overcompensating for my blurry sight. I reached up to feel my pulse, and it was still racing like before… but it wasn't overcoming me. Nevertheless, how was I still alive? But I remember blacking out… didn't I? When everything cut out, I thought for sure that the final move finished me off. Somehow, my memory came back in flashes… I remembered everything, the battle, the words said, and remembered Sasuke's final words he just said in my painful ordeal. All of this was cut too short and I couldn't remember any of what just flashed before my eyes.

Something overcame me and my eyes started to well up. God… Sasuke sustained a fatal wound… there was nothing I could do. I fought an entire battle with no conscious effort.

"What was that back there, Naruto…? What happened… I got on all fours, and tried to protect you and Sasuke…" I was still in shock, and tears fell slowly down my face.

"That mark spreading across your body… look down at your neck because that's what happened."

Wait, I got the curse seal!? That can't be possible… but it must be, somehow. I believed the that now Naruto was the only one who knew of the Kyuubi.

"Naruto, come outside with me… I'm so sorry…" I said.

Looked so caring… so kindhearted.

"Alright, what's the deal? I know you're not okay… so do you remember anything?"

Naruto was so serious—he must be trying to stay strong for me.

"Yes. But it came in flashes and I couldn't control myself when we were fighting."

Naruto crossed his arms. "That's the Kyuubi for you. I've experienced the same thing once when I was 5-years-old, but don't tell anyone. That was the first time I ever killed someone. Makoto, I was told by the Hokage that our father was a hero. I know that our father is the same person you were told about because he gave you the other half of the Kyuubi and he must have said the same thing. Look at my eyes—" said Naruto, activating what looked to be a perfect Sharingan, "I was specially trained from that day when I killed a man to master my Sharingan."

"But your eyes were blue before you turned it on."

"They aren't. Our mother had blue eyes and blonde hair, but I wear colored contacts to look like I have blue eyes. The Hokage suggested you wear purple contacts so you could hide your Sharingan, and our father did the same. He was an Uchiha who split from the clan after being exiled. He's not alive today, however."

"You think that we have the same father?"

"And we have the same mother. I know this for a fact since the Hokage trusted me when I was very much older with the identity of our parents."

"So, wait… we were born as twins?" I said.

He then explained. "Hokage-sama changed your birthday to the 3rd of October rather than the 10th. It makes sense because if two Jinchuuriki had the same last name and the same birthday, that would be almost catastrophic and our identities would be revealed. Our father had many enemies. Of course, my name is Uzumaki just because it's an honorary name. Your surname is Nakamura because it was easy to remember, and it was our mother's maiden name."

"Okay, and, why haven't you yelled yet?!"

"Honestly, that was a mask of my emotions, I had to put up an act somehow."

"Well, could you be louder?!"

"No not really."

Sakura came out of the tree shelter. "Alright, well, I don't know if this helps… but I have an earth scroll."

"Sakura, you're okay, right?" said Naruto, concerned.

"A ninja must show no emotion, no matter what." said Sakura.

"Well we have a heaven scroll, so let's take off. We have to get Makoto to a doctor." he said.

"I'm fine, god…" I said.

"No, you're not, you have that ugly mark, and it might resurface."

…

"So, that's the story?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." said Naruto.

They stood in the large hall with the banner with a missing kanji. "I don't seem to understand—the final word that seems to be missing."

"Well, every one of my students needs to work on something. If you lack Earthly, grounded qualities, you must train your physical presence. If you lack Heavenly, unlimited qualities, you must train your mind. Makes sense doesn't it, and if you both have balance of heavenly and earthly energies, you can achieve anything." Iruka said, "Well I'm off, go ahead and meet your sensei in the grand hall. Sakura can join you guys, I will talk to the Hokage and he make her an honorary member to your team."

…

 **I would love to continue this chapter, but alas another message to fill up space is here.**

 **There have been some stat changes that will be coming up, but keep in mind this is after the preliminary fights and for the Third Exam. Everything after that? Well, the story will be much like the Part 1 Canon from here forward, but things won't be happening in the same exact way.**

 **After the month or so after they've trained hard, here's what Makoto, Naruto, and Sakura are going to be. (Yes, Sakura is now in team seven, and luckily not Sasuke-crazy)**

 **Let's start with our beauty, Sakura-san.**

Sakura: Ninjutsu 2, Taijutsu 2, Genjutsu 3, Intelligence 3.5, Speed 2, Strength 2, Stamina 1, Hand Seals 4, Total: 19.5

 **Let's go to Mr. Serious (that feels so awkward to say), Naruto, and see what he can do.**

Naruto: Ninjutsu 2.5, Taijutsu 3, Genjutsu 1.5, Intelligence 4, Speed 3, Strength 2.5, Stamina 4, Hand Seals 1, Total: 21.5

 **And for the piece of pie on your plate, here is Makoto.**

Makoto: Ninjutsu 3, Taijutsu 2, Genjutsu 2, Intelligence 4, Speed 3, Strength 1.5, Stamina 3, Hand Seals 2 Total: 20.5


	8. Episode 8

**WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**

…

We all stood in rows of 6 and columns of 3 and saluted to the Hokage who was giving a speech, "Alright… well, we've all made it this far, and there will some preliminaries to limit the number of contenders from the same team moving onward. And I would like to bring to everyone's attention that one of our rookies has died because of threat that we have just realized and are investigating. Let us all mourn give a moment of silence one of Konoha's last Uchiha, Sasuke.

There was silence… it all started to sink into everybody that knew him was surprised to see him go in a stupid test. All the rookies were shocked—the strongest member of my team, and class prodigy, and now KIA. But there was no way to avoid death as a shinobi. I was kill or be killed, and I learned that today. I would have to put my life on the line to protect Sakura and Naruto since I now understand death and true loss of a dear friend.

Still I had never come so close to dying, I was more afraid than I had been because Orochimaru was beyond my own power, and I know no one in this room could help being scared. It's how you deal with being scared that's going to put you at odds with any opponent. Now that I have this mark, I trust myself to never give up on my village. I'm going to stay put in the village unlike Canon-Sasuke. Now I must lead my team through this final ordeal, or risk losing another precious person close to my heart. I knew since my team was now broken up, I had to piece everything back together and figure out the puzzle once again. But I wouldn't do it alone—I don't know if Sakura's with me...

… But Naruto will always be there.

We were led into another other wide-open room where the fighting would take place, and all came up the stairs to the balconies. I had never seen so many powerful ninjas in one place. If Kibbles (Kiba) and Shikamaru had lead their team here with merely luck alone, you couldn't tell that by their hair and clothes. Even Ino looked a little more than worse for wear… she must have had We all went through the exams for the first time, and I wish Sasuke was here to see me fight my hardest to win this match…

"Hey, don't worry." said Sakura out of the blue. "I'm sure you'll do great."

The fact was I didn't know exactly if I'd get used to having the Mangekyou, and I know that I might go blind if Naruto doesn't have his own eyes transplanted into mine, vice versa. There were more problems, like being able to use my Nature Transformation to its fullest degree. I only copied about 100 different jutsu that worked like a slot machine. Sometimes I think of good ideas like using earth walls to break wind flurries, use random ground to air lightning strikes as a defense and possibly offense, and sometimes use water and lighting in conjunction of each other. However, when I face death, I used to freeze at the sight of it. The slot machine of ideas just gives me bar-none.

I remembered one thing that Orochimaru told me while I was using the Kyuubi Chakra. It was like he just knew I'd initially stay conscious with my Curse Seal because of my strong will. I know I didn't really remember the fight, but something happened I didn't get. Why did Sasuke die as well? The fact was, Sasuke was also given the Curse Seal, as shown by the evidence Kakashi told us about after Iruka left us. He died solely because he didn't have the will to fight the Seal, which meant he hadn't experienced the Curse of Hatred or the awakening of his Sharingan. Then, there was the incident were my Sharingan ability heightened. I remember tiny flashes of movement, but nothing really that wasn't vague. They still seemed so precise.

Now I was faced with the choice to be brave and hide my fear. I knew that was the answer.

Still I didn't understand why Sasuke told me to kill every Uchiha that stands in my way. There was no point to make about that statement. He didn't want to kill his brother, but maybe he knew something beforehand that I didn't know… it was all so scary that maybe one day I would die at the hands of Madara or Obito. Orochimaru was child's play, and maybe my own brother… well, I wouldn't go there just yet…

"Alright, may I have your attention. The 6 teams and 17 participants total will have to undergo the preliminaries, 2 of your names will appear on the board. If your name appears on that board, you will report to the field in 5 minutes. You may use any tools or Jutsu that allow you to win the battle. Best come with killer intent as you have in the 2nd part of this exam."

"Is that it? Is it just a clash against two people?" said Ino.

"Well, there's one special rule that I must share with you. Nearly 50% of your ranks must fight and win at least once. Since there are 17 people, we must find an unspecific person to fight two fights. If the person wins both fights, he or she will pass the prelims."

"I'll do it." I said, "What have I got to lose?"

"Alright, then what is your name?" said the proctor Hayate.

"Makoto Nakamura."

"Alright, let's look to the board to see who is first."

The board flashed the name Kiba and Makoto.

"Woohoo! I get to kick ass!" said Kiba.

I swung myself over the wall of and leaped off the balcony to arrive at the floor below.

"Riight, and I'm the Hokage." I said, walking up to him.

"You'd be a pretty lame Hokage." said Kiba. "I'd be a better Hokage than you."

"Yeah, and aren't Hokage supposed to be a master of Ninjutsu, with over hundreds of Jutsu and experience?"

"Whatever, if beat you, I'll be one step closer."

Hayate frowned, "You guys have 3 minutes left to begin, do you wish to resign?"

"Get out of here. Let's do this Kiba." I said.

Kiba's dog rolled off his head and they began to use Man-Beast Transformation and the Four Legs Technique.

"Really, a dog and a boy with a big head doesn't scare me."

When my Sharingan warned me about them executing fang over fang, I used the earth wall jutsu to raise the floor around me, but then just corkscrewed around the wall. I wasn't about to get torn up by Kiba and his dumb dog so I jumped up high and use chakra strings to lower the wall down on top of them. However, the falling rocks just disintegrated and so I jumped off each of the falling rock to avoid them.

Luckily, in mid-air, they ran out of steam to use the jutsu and had to initiate Plan B.

When they spiraled down to the ground, the came back up and nearly struck my head as I still was jumping off the rocks to avoid the fall. I jumped and slid out of the way when I landed.

Akamaru was apparently in need of catching as they had both ran out of chakra, but they fell gracefully enough to each take a food pill.

"Kiba! That's suicide, if use food pills to replenish chakra…" said Kurenai.

"I know, don't you think I know that? Let's just try again, this time, no stupid rocks! Fang Passing Fang!"

I casted the Double Suicide Quicksand Technique, used it on the ground and buried my hands, and made the ground less solid for Kiba and Akamaru by extending its reach. When Kiba started to sink, he realized that he was about to lose, and he spun with Akamaru, turning up the less solid floor like wet clay and spun himself out. I reverse the jutsu and before he was completely immersed into the floor. Kurenai jumped down from the balcony and ran up to him, checking his pulse. Hinata and Shino followed.

"He's alright… using that pill can have adverse side effects if he over uses his chakra." said Kurenai. She sighed in relief with one hand on her chest.

"I knew that for Kiba, a fast and powerful fighter, low stamina would soon run out. I let him run out of steam." I said. I gave a faint smile.

"Very wise, Kakashi taught you well. Shino, Hinata, wait for me as we take him to a doctor." said Kurenai. They nodded.

We all went up to the balcony again for the next match. The name that was next… "Oh, god…" I said.

"Are you afraid of the power of youth, Makoto?" said Might Guy, "Go for it, Lee!"

"Youth!"

Lee sped to the floor in a millisecond flat. How am I going to beat him? Lee never gives up. I felt my rage flowing… this time I was so mad at myself for being afraid, that my Sharingan and Curse Seal activated. I jump off the side and slammed my feet into the floor, making a large crater. I would not lose.

Lee looked taken aback. "What is this power? Its…"

"Frightening?" I said.

"Fantastic! The makings of a good fight!" he said.

His fearlessness made me angrier.

"Alright, begin…" said Hayate.

We jumped in the to the air and clashed bone shattering fists, but because he opened the first gate to not get his arm blown off.

"Gate of Healing!"

Shit, he's not backing down. I have no time to even think, strategize, or use Hand Seals. I see how Shikamaru would be blown away—we were both mid to long-range shinobi respectively and never had we dealt with a pure Taijutsu master. Unlike most Taijutsu users, Lee could go beyond human limits.

"Gate of life!"

My Cursed Seal increased my power. Nonetheless I leaned over and coughed up blood when I landed. I clutched my heart. Was I pushing myself too much? We exchanged blows and blood everywhere from wounds on our limbs, but Lee was Less injured than me. This was serious. I must have spurted out a gallon of blood out of my mouth.

"Guy, stop the match." said Kakashi, "Or I will."

"The blood is getting a bit out of hand…" he said.

"This match must go on until one of them forfeits or loses." said Hayate.

"I will… not… lose!"

For the first time, I activated my Mangekyou Sharingan and quickly, my sight was completely different. I tried to use both eyes, but that's when something went terribly wrong because my sight went dark and my eyes went everywhere. However, my Cursed Seal however started to recede and into my neck and afterward I was focusing, defocusing, tracking, and sensing all at the time.

Everything that went haywire after about 1 minute of that became clear. I could see in a 360-degree area, and my sight turned to multiple screens like you see in security closets at grocery or brick and mortar stores back on Earth. But it didn't just heighten my tracking, it gave me complete ability to see and know what was about to happen all around me in real time without weakness like a Hyuuga.

Lee came to my left, and I barely blocked it and threw him across the room. Really? That much power coming from me? The Mangekyou worked on my whole body- maybe… no it can't be. Maybe my Sharingan gave me the ability to use Senjutsu rather than the Senjutsu from the Cursed Seal? Considering he was using the 3 of the Eight Gates, it was astounding that I didn't break and arm and was able to throw him halfway across the room.

"Lee!" said Tenten.

Lee wasn't responding, and the aura around him faded. I deactivated my Sharingan and tried to stand.

"It's over… looks like you win Makoto." said Hayate.

I walk, my stomach queasy from swallowing so much of the blood I couldn't I spit out.

"Makoto, you can barely walk. Please… I think we'll finally put an end to that Cursed Mark from spreading." said Kakashi, he looked to my shoulder, and... "What? It's… gone."

"Yeah, I think it's because of my Mangekyou. For a moment, it felt like real Senjutsu coursed through my veins." I said.

"That's like my Mangekyou… we may never know why it did that, but let's stay concerned for right now." said Naruto, crossing his arms.

"Right. Maybe my will was just too weak for the Cursed Seal and when it started to kill me, my regenerative powers from my Mangekyou saved me. I ought to use it a lot more…" I said, nodding twice.

"Just be careful. You'll lose your sight the more and more you use it-" said Kakashi.

I felt terribly dizzy for a moment, and you know what? I fell forward a bit.

"Makoto, are you okay?" said Sakura putting my arm around her shoulder and brace. One more time, and I mean if I throw up blood once more, I was going to drop dead. But it didn't come. What did happen was weird… I saw vision a purple, and he had Sasuke's voice.

" **Damn, I wish I were here… did you feel me? You must do this on your own. I may look like a monster now, but I will always be with you. Kill any Uchiha that stands in our way."**

Maybe it was something all Uchiha experienced at one time, but the truth was that I felt inclined to do what he said. I felt someone close to my heart when saw that monster, but maybe it was all a hallucination.

...

 **WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**


	9. Episode 9

**WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**

…

I laid in my bed at Konoha Hospital coughing up that same sticky red stuff every now and again. I didn't feel comfortable here, so I moved around the room, seeing the flower in the vase. It was a variegated tulip—I heard Uchiha like Sasuke liked this kind of flower because of its meaning and its meaning was— "You have pretty eyes." I think it wasn't supposed to be flirty, but Tulips were like that in some ways. It was from Sakura, who I didn't even think liked me after the love of both our lives died.

On the way out, I was stopped by Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei? How's Naruto and Sakura doing? Have you retrieved Sasuke's body…?"

"Yes, we have. However, I think you should know someone within our ranks as ninja has done something very wrong. Do you remember anything at all from your fight with Orochimaru?"

"Bits and pieces, but wasn't in the right mind… you see, the Kyuubi- wait. You think someone's betrayed the village?" I gasped and drew back, covering my mouth in surprise.

"I can't tell you the specifics. Sakura has finished healing from her fight as well, I think you should go see her quickly and then meet me back here." Kakashi said.

I walked down the left of the hall, came to the door, and stopped at it. I couldn't believe that Sasuke had the Cursed Mark and it killed him. Maybe because his hatred didn't consume him so much later when he knew he could rebuild his life and forget about his past. That's what normal people did when they had people lifting them up.

I knocked on the door and said, "Sakura?"

She came to the door and opened it. "Hey… Makoto." Sakura sounded depressed but then she smiled, "I guess we're both moving on to the next round. Hehe!"

I assume Kakashi trusted me to keep this secret so I didn't say anything yet.

"Hey, come on in, don't stand there!"

Sakura sat on the bed and I pulled up a chair. "How's Hinata?" said the tousled looking girl. She looked like a wreck—kind of like I did. She's much different than the girl I knew, but she probably had a grueling battle.

"She's okay. I checked on her the other day, and she seemed like she was recovering nicely." I smiled at her, "Right, um. Are you feeling okay about Sasuke?" I said, nodding back.

"Well, I kind of gave up my fantasy when I was selected for a different team. Even though we failed the first test as a team, we managed to pass early the next time right before for the Chunin Exams. But I was left alone after Gaara killed my teammates." She drew breath, "Still, three deaths are something that for most of us almost too hard to handle. I bet you can only imagine what I'm feeling, but I'm grateful for you visiting me."

"Has anyone else passed?"

Sakura thought for a moment, "Naruto show Neji. Rock Lee… when he lost you after using your finger of doom that he was transported to Konoha Hospital right away after the match, just like you. I'm worried that since he used three of The Chakra Gates he might have a slow or even no recovery. You broke all his bones... but he'll be okay, I hope… I know that you were having a hard time controlling the cursed seal. The other thing that happened, which thankfully it was good, was that Kankuro lost to Shikamaru when he immobilized him before he used his puppet and he gave in. He knew Shikamaru had already won."

"Right. Good. But I feel bad for Lee, I didn't mean to ruin his life… that's going to guilt me forever. I think I'll go visit him after getting some flowers from Ino's shop. I don't know if you heard… but Hinata lost to Temari because Temari is a long-range Shinobi. It might very well be that we'll have to face one of the two sand siblings, but I can use many different elements and types of jutsu without my Sharingan. I'm kind of scared about facing Gaara, and Temari might already know my weakness… I'm naturally a Lightning Release user."

There was a knock at the door.

"Kakashi-sensei needs me, I'll see yah later.

…

"The Hokage has summoned you and Naruto before the Council of Village Elders, you must discuss a different pseudonym for your surname." said Kakashi

"So… possibly with the Jonin council all we're doing is recognizing us as Uchiha?" I asked, turning to him as we walked further up the stairs

"Well, we're changing your surnames names completely, and not to Uchiha. You don't have to worry about your surname being permanent, but they may encourage you to stop using your Sharingan."

We headed our way up to the outside stairs and unlocked a gate at the top of it. I assumed Naruto was already there and so was the Elder Council because when we head up to the top very top room, we heard arguing.

"Yeah, well I know it's important that I train the Kyuubi, but we already tried with Jiraiya and I failed to maintain control. If it leaks out any more of its chakra, we'll have a problem." I heard Naruto say.

Kakashi gave the signal knock that only he, me, and Naruto knew.

"Let them in, Naruto."

Naruto opened the door and we began to discuss things.

The Hokage spoke, "So, to catch up, Naruto was talking about the matter of the Kyuubi. Since Jiraiya has once before tried to train him—"

"I heard." I said. "Naruto, you're too loud."

"Not by much." Naruto said. "Alright, so about what you called us here for, it wasn't about the Kyuubi, was it?"

"Naruto… it's a shock to everyone how we're still alive… things are very tense." I said, trying to be the one who was realistic.

"You are actually don't know how tense they are. Now everyone knows there are two Uchiha with two halves of the tailed beast. People will be after us now… you should wonder if we should take more drastic measures… like changing our very appearances." said Hiruzen

"Since your genetics do play a role, we will consider it." said Homura.

"Simply a name change will be enough. Most people in the village are unaware of your appearances because your father was never mentioned years ago. This allowed you to grow up relatively easy since your father was unnamed, unmerited, and wasn't even a shinobi from our village." said Koharu.

"Well, I happen to agree… we essentially had wiped his name off the integrity of this village. No one knows who he is, so there was no reason for people to shun you except for the fact of your seals. This was long since downgraded with your successes and unlocking of your Sharingan. Some people believed that Naruto was the sole proprietor of the Kyuubi, others thought that of your twin, Naruto. This caused confusion plus some people decided to treat both you brats horribly anyway." said Danzo from his couch.

The Hokage heaved a sigh, "There's one thing you should know… your father betrayed the Uchiha, and he did it to lead to their demise because wanted to save the very future of the village he so loved. He was only a civilian in technical terms, but he had more power than you could imagine. I don't even consider him as a threat, really. He did what was good for the village, I believe, despite the death toll of over 100 Uchiha men alone." said Hiruzen. 

"Do you think murder for a good cause is justification?!" said Naruto. They all drew back. "Look, know about this… I knew Itachi—you put all the weight on his shoulders to take if off my father's. I know both my father and he are still alive, and I will hunt my father down if it's the last thing I do!"

He stormed out of the small room and slammed the door.

"Well, the name change will be final soon and old birth records will be replaced, as well as your citizenry papers and ninja registration to fit the new identity. Like Danzo said, the people close and not close to you know you to be no threat as you are both loyal to the village. The last thing your father said to me before you disappeared was take care of you as best as I could. Since people are now starting to view you more as Shinobi citizens rather than two halves a monster, not even a person who was old enough to remember that day considers you a horrible entity. I have made sure of this for your entire life. You are both viewed as heroes now because your father saved us twice from extinction."

"So, where's my father now?" I said, thinking back to what Sasuke said.

"He may very well be dead—he had a weak heart solely because his family and spouse were now gone… but he still could be out there."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know. He never said."

…

 **WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**


	10. Episode 10

**WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**

…

It was only 2 months after the first and second exam and I had 3 more to go until the finals were up-and-coming. I decided to take this time to visit friends in the hospital. Currently, Kiba was recovering from injuries and Akamaru was at the clan animal hospital with his sister, Hana. Lee still had no way of ever recovering from his injuries, and I thought I would cheer him up a little by visiting. Hinata was the one I really wanted to see. I related to her that no girl like her could have possibly won that fight against someone who couldn't attack even mid-range. But now, I guess you could say I was here for my own reasons… I had a checkup with my doctor. And so, did someone else...

"Hey, Sakura, how did your checkup go?" I said as I strolled up to her with 3 vases that was balancing in my hands.

"Oh, it was fine…" she said blushing. "Um… need any help?"

"Yeah, these would actually be heavy if was so strong!" I said she took two of the vases and balanced them.

"What, have you already put water in these? Let the hospital do that… there's sinks everywhere." she said.

"Why are you blushing so much anyway?" I said.

I stopped at the door to Hinata's hospital room, there was a 'Resting Patient' sign, which meant we couldn't go in. We walked down the hall and saw another one on Lee's door, and further, we saw the same thing on Kiba's door. So, we left the vases at the front desk and receptionist said she would take care of it.

"Alright, since we have nothing to do… how about we go to the training ground?"

Her green eyes brightened. But then they looked down.

"Have you ever felt like you were a bit… lacking?" said Sakura.

I knew exactly what she was talking about. "It doesn't bother me anymore. I don't have much in the T&A department." I said, "Plus, I'm a late bloomer."

"I see… I'm sorry, I forgot you never had anything in that 'Department'."

I looked over to Sakura with an eyebrow raised.

"You know don't have to rub it in…"

"Sorry… I'm just really insecure lately and that's just another thing to worry about, I don't need you mad at me." she said. "But I'm really worried that I won't be able to beat Neji."

I smiled at her. "Well, if you don't, you can still woo the Hokage and become a Chunin. Just use your head. I use Water and Lighting in conjunction a lot, but it's not really a Kekkei Genkai or anything… but… then again, it was easy to learn my 5 natures because of my Sharingan and it's the same with Naruto. But… it would take you years just to learn 1. What were your strengths beside your brain?"

"Not really much… I've been training my physical prowess a lot to keep up."

"Then I want you to meet someone! Come on, it'll be fun!"

I grabbed her hand and jerked her off to see someone that would very much appreciate to have our time.

"Hey, Makoto… this is private training ground… um. Why are there so many trees broken?"

I grinned wryly "You know Neji? This is his and his sensei's training ground."

"Wait, what if Neji is around?" said Sakura.

"Why do you think this place is destroyed?" I said, "Well, ever since they were a team, Neji never trained in this training ground. Lee trained here. That's why it's destroyed, but I think Guy has been taking his anger out on this place a little more than usual."

I then called out, "Hey, Guy-sensei!"

"What? Did someone actually call me?" he appeared I puff of smoke.

"Hey, um, we want to train with you… Naruto's with Kakashi and Jiraiya on a guy's trip perfecting Naruto's whatchamacallit… Rasengan or whatever." I said sticking my lips out while I was talking.

"The Rasengan was the Sannin Jiraiya's technique! Oh of course he would be teaching him that!"

"Yeah, we know the history behind it already." I said, pulling out my doe eyes sadly, "Kakashi apparently has abandoned us."

"Then look no further, I'll push you two young ladies harder than that Kakashi ever did! Oh, let's start, there should be a lock on this thing… but I managed to lose the key when I sat underneath the waterfall. But there should be a spare..."

I jumped straight over the fence.

"Come on, Sakura." I said.

"Um, I don't know…" she whined.

"Just release chakra and jump from your feet." I said.

"Okay…" she said, and she managed to get over, but tumbled onto her face. "Ouch…"

"Now we'll start! What are both of your greatest weaknesses and your greatest strengths."

"I have a lot of Stamina, but not a lot of strength-" I said.

"1000 pushups, and if you can't do that, 1000 more! See the math?" said Guy. "That's um… 2000, right? I'm not good at-"

Sakura turned, "Arithmetic? Makoto... are you sure?" she said looking at me worriedly.

"He's smarter than he looks, okay? He knows I can easily do 1000 pushups, but he is bad at math though." I said smiling.

"You, pink-one, why don't you share yours."

"My greatest weakness is… everything."

"Then you will work with us on Taijutsu after the Uchiha finishes."

I began to drop and give him… 1000. To tell you the truth, Kakashi had trained me similarly without much effect, that's why I chose to use my giant chakra prowess and complete chakra control abilities to use enhanced strength like Tsunade.

"Aha, 1000 pushups! You have improved from when Kakashi trained you. But my question is why is he showing favoritism to Naruto?"

"So, you figure that Kakashi didn't show me a thing or two… in a week, I mastered the Chidori and Rasengan, but was unable to mix it with my Rasengan. Naruto has the ability per say to do it since his nature is Wind, just like our mother's." I said.

"I see… he does take after his mother…" said Guy.

"Wait, you know my mother?" I asked, tilting my head and biting my index finger.

Guy remained silent.

"Anyway… the Rasengan takes usually a very long time to master, since you can't copy it. Plus, Naruto's an Anbu now and that's why he dropped out of the Third Exam. He can't be left without a skill to back him up. He must have his own special technique with Wind Release. Plus, he's got to get adjusted his new Eternal Mangekyou, and so do I."

"So, you won't go blind anymore?" said Sakura.

I smiled dopily. "Nope. I had already begun to lose my sight after few times of overusing it though, but that's been restored."

"Alright, well, time for Taijutsu. We must teach you things that you've never learned before. I believe that Makoto can learn the true Front Lotus."

"Really? What about me?" said Sakura.

"I will work with you after you do 500 sit ups." said Guy.

"Oh, really? What kind of mess did I get myself into..."

…

"Alright, good work for today, wonderful youths!"

The two of us were laying on the ground, flat on our backs. Guy's training was tough—we had been in this training field for 5 hours, and extra hour each day. We had gone long enough to say that we both had pretty good Taijutsu and other physical skills, but I knew that wasn't going to win against Neji…

"Hey, since we only have three weeks, how about some strategies to defeat Neji?" said the regular perky voice of Sakura Haruno.

When I looked to my side, Sakura wasn't there anymore. Sakura was standing. How could she? She had way less stamina than me… then I realize just how tired she was. It seemed like she wasn't training that hard, but she could very well be exhausted. Maybe Guy and I seemed to be in awe of Sakura to be standing, who could handle such grueling work, but underestimated her abilities and didn't help her as much. She was given long runs around the village, but somehow, she could do it. Maybe civilian Ninja do have some backbone. But Guy gave her less of hard time since he saw me use the Lion Combo and later taught me to open the first gate to use the Front Lotus. I personally trained with Guy and it seemed to take the most out of me.

"I'm exhausted." I said. "Can't… stand…"

"Well, maybe I should ask you a question, Makoto…" said Guy. "Would you like to join my team and learn from me the secrets of the Eight Gates? No one could replace Lee, but maybe Kakashi would allow it. You would still do missions with your team and maybe come on some with me until Lee recovers…" I know he wanted to make it seem like Lee would maybe recover, I heard a quiver in his voice and saw a twitch in his smile. "He could should come back from this anyone day now."

Not to be a bubble buster, but an Uchiha Taijutsu specialist was rare… maybe unheard of, but the fact I felt it call out to me was strange. Maybe my father or Sasuke was looking down on me, urging me on through my blood ties. But I didn't really have the talent for Taijutsu, so I said, "I… don't really know if I have the talent…"

"Nonsense, wonderful youth! You have the youthfulness of a thousand of Lee. I you really did strengthen you long-range fighting, but I know that Sharingan users are close range fighters with mid-range jutsu in their disposal. Plus, as a bonus you can use your Sharingan to copy all the techniques I will teach you. If you're worried about your team, you can still work with my dreaded rival Kakashi. I bet with practice you'll be able be just like Lee, and maybe even more than that…"

I thought about it for a moment. If Guy's training was as hard as it had been today, the next two weeks will be brutal. I bet I'm expected to overcome the fatigue from the Front Lotus, and would wear arm and leg weights. But it did seem like a wild proposition… an Uchiha who learned the Eight Gates? I know my power was already through the roof, but since I don't have enough chakra to use my Eternal Mangekyou, Kakashi proposed some time ago that I train with Jiraiya like Naruto did to use The Tailed Beast Mode. Technically though, Naruto failed to have control over that ability. He can only use the One-Tailed mode and is able to use his Eternal Mangekyou abilities in conjunction to that. Even he has lower chakra than what was is needed for Eternal Mangekyou.

When I sat up, Sakura said her goodbyes. "Thank you for your training, Guy-sensei, but my folks will wonder where I'm at. Why don't you become a part of Team Guy, Makoto? It'd be great, and Lee will be fine with it since I know he really likes you. You're the only one who ever beat him besides Neji" said Sakura, winking at me and smiling, "Maybe one day he'll recover and you can be on our team full time, right?"

"Right…" I said, "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll get up bright and early." said Sakura.

"You know what my father used to say? Rest and be youthful in the morning to start a new day of hard work!" of Guy.

"Right… I'll see you tomorrow!" I said.

…

 **WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**


	11. Episode 11

**WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**

Update: **Okay, so I see that the previous chapters (8-10) were just filler and a large percentile of you guys skipped them, and some (or most) people even skipped the chapters chapters 1-7 as well. I don't seem to understand why people do that when someone posts more than one chapter, but the plot point I wanted to get across wasn't necessarily skipped by any of these previous chapters. You you'll see what that is in this chapter. I know many people haven't read 1-10, but I highly recommend it be done because I told all of you to read these chapters _before_ this one and what do you know what? No one listened. I will do a recap chapter after some of this has blown over with me, but maybe no one would read that either. Maybe it's just an error in the site's hit system. This story is not over yet, also we haven't even finished part 1 and apparently that's what everyone thought**

…

I was sitting in a hot bath in the ladies' bathhouse, relaxing for the days ahead. It was finally almost time for the Chunin Exam finals and I was way too relaxed. With Sakura sitting next to me, the days couldn't have been longer- she really fought hard with our training.

We trained with Guy because Neji and Tenten were training on their own. Neji was mad at his sensei in his own way. Guy laid it on Sakura and me that Lee was stuck in the hospital without hope of ever coming out, and like Guy expressed Neji felt some pity for his rival and anger of Guy's favoritism. Ever since Neji felt like Guy's favor of Lee tore apart his own team. He felt like Lee's special treatment ended up in Guy's own failure as a sensei, plus his hardworking teammate got what was coming to him. Honestly, I don't know the guy, so his logic didn't seem to make sense to me. Guy felt that way as well, so I knew there were some grey areas that could go either way.

Still, since Neji didn't care to see anyone who worked hard to be in the finals, and Sakura and 3 other rookies did just that. I began to think that Sakura was being stalked by Neji and Tenten. I assured her it was paranoia, even though I had been familiar with their chakra signatures because I began to sense them near us, only paces away. I told her not to worry when we trained with Guy. By the way, any ninja can pick up on chakra signatures, it's just not innate like Ultra-Sensor Ninja like Minato or Karin.

Anyway, I had seen Sakura's true strength in Taijutsu. It something that Guy was proud of, but she didn't have the ability to keep up with me in speed or stamina. We also worked with Kakashi on Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, to Guy's displeasure. Ninjutsu was my thing, but Sakura seemed to be more in-tune with any type of illusions in Genjutsu.

Kurenai and helped us a bit, but she seemed to take a liking to Sakura's take on Genjutsu. There were several types of regular Genjutsu not related to the Sharingan or other Kekkei Genkai which were believable and somewhat scary, but there was this one type that Sakura and I enjoyed. We liked the Genjutsu that appeared as real Ninjutsu. It worked surprisingly well and I think Sakura may be able to beat Neji with it. My theory since I wasn't talented with it, I'd have to find a different way.

Of course, we worked on hand to hand combat that Kakashi since he was more knowledgeable in many different forms since of his Sharingan, which I copied with my Sharingan. It was easy for me to get it without my Sharingan but I don't really the extra struggle.

Then, when an old friend stopped by, I met Jiraiya. He was a total pervert, but he was very nice to me especially. He began to tell me the key to success when facing a Hyuuga's defences. If Sakura lost to Neji, I'd have to Neji in my second match. But if Neji lost that would bring my girl-on-girl rivalry with Sakura and I to new heights. I almost didn't want to face Sakura because I was the better Shinobi.

Gaara was my first match in B-Block and I must fight two fights just to get to Neji. Naruto departed from his spot in the Chunin Exams to watch us and take care of his own duties as an Anbu. As for the line-up in the A-block, Shikamaru will fight Tenten, and Temari will be against Ino. I know, surprising… but anyway, this will be interesting. I can just feel it.

Back to the secret of beating a Hyuuga. Hours earlier, Jiraiya was pure evil pitting me against Hinata who just got out of the hospital, and somehow had grown more confidence and her abilities heightened. She could use many of her family's secret techniques, the same ones Neji could use.

"Alright, Hinata… I won't beat you up too bad." I said.

"Alright…" she said meekly.

Naruto and Sakura began cheering for Hinata.

"Hey, you guuuys! That's not fair, you're my team."

Hinata giggled under her breath.

"Alright, so I'll run at you and try to stop your attack with my own." I said, unknowing of what to do or if I had a jutsu in my repertoire to really do that. I was mainly a long-range fighter, really, but time-consuming hand seals were a problem with that kind of method, not to mention Neji could block all my Ninjutsu. Kakashi had been working on the Chidori with me, but I don't think it was wise to use my best technique let alone an assassination technique on poor Hinata right now. Plus, if those two powers clashed, I could lose an arm.

"So, I guess you need that secret, right?" Jiraiya interrupted.

"Jiraiya, you're mostly a close to mid-range fighter, but most of my skills require a lot of distance and hand seals because most of my techniques are used in conjunction with other jutsu." I said, "There's no way that head on collision or a long range jutsu can beat this jutsu. Even at my full speed wouldn't be effective against Hinata- ..."

"Then how about I tell you the secret?" he said again. I nodded, "Break the ground before she has a chance spin and knock'er out!"

"Genius." said Kakashi, looking surprised with his one eye, "I would have thought of that eventually." he scratched the side of his chin.

"Try it with your fist." said Jiraiya, "Also throw something at her to goad her into the rotation."

"You hear that, you're going to rotate when I throw Shuriken at you!" I said, she seemed to be nervous.

I jumped high in the air and threw several Shuriken at Hinata and I saw with my Sharingan when she was about to move and partially activated my curse seal and smashed my fist into the ground when I came back down. I figured the weapons would Hinata but Kakashi made sure he blocked the weapons before injury.

"So, it actually worked! I was just fooling around with ideas in my head…" Jiraiya said.

"So, you actually didn't know what you were doing?!" I said. "That's so…"

"Lame." said Naruto. "Alright, whatever works."

Hinata and Sakura giggled.

"Don't finish my sentences, it annoying." I said, pouting angrily.

Sakura giggled louder, "It's like you're really twins."

"Riight." I said, "I'm going to go puke now- we don't even live together."

"My father was a twin… he said he really loved his brother for saving my life. Because of that, I think he sort of looks at Neji as his own son since his dad is gone, but the clan rules say Neji can't take away the fact of being a member of the branch family, and so he must serve the family rather than live for it. I am very gracious to be born the way I am and now maybe even respected." said Hinata suddenly. Everyone just stared and smiled.

"You would have never had the courage to say that 2 weeks ago. You just hadn't hit your mark until then, had you?" I said.

"Thank you." she said, eyes starting to shine with tears of joy. "I want you all to come over to my compound one day. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha may have been bitter enemies almost like the Senju were to the Uchiha, but my father deeply respects both of you, Naruto and Makoto."

"I'd be honored to one day." I said. "What made him change his mind?"

"Please don't think that you have changed my father, he always had the deepest respect for the Uchiha and for you both because of your family's ability to see beyond things, not just look at them like our clan- my family doesn't see me as a worthy heir yet, but my father does. That's because an Uchiha taught him that people are precious."

"And what brought that on?" I said.

"Well, you may see that once you ask him."

"I've heard enough!" said a voice. "There is no way your father views you any different after losing to that Sand ninja."

"You were spying on us, jerk!" said Sakura, when I turned, I looked at Neji and Tenten, standing on the tree limb, Neji upside down on the underside.

Tenten growled at Sakura, "And you, you are nothing but a cheerleader! People with real talent don't just earn it! Everyone is born with innate skills, just like Neji and Makoto. What Hinata learned in two weeks does not compare to what Neji has train his whole life for. That's why you broke her defense so easy. Pretty words, cheering, and happiness are for fairytales."

Neji dropped down, walk up to me and was close, about a foot to my face. "Makoto, you may have won Hinata over, and possibly my uncle, but you are the one I want. So, you can break my ultimate defense. I'll show you what a real branch Hyuuga can do without the bells and whistles of an ultimate defense."

"Those are fightin' words… you want to bet I won't beat ass your right now?" I said.

"I bet I know far more what it means to be a stronger than anyone I've ever faced. You failed to protect Sasuke from someone so trivial. Sakura, you failed to be strong when Gaara killed your team, and if you were to face him, you would surely die. And Naruto..."

"That's ENOUGH!" said Naruto. "You are a complete asshole, and you need to be put in your place."

"And the failure of the Uchiha Clan speaks again. You couldn't stop it, could you. You couldn't even save your sister's true love, and that's why you have those all-powerful eyes, the same eyes your sister gave you in return of your own. I had eyes like yours, I'd be seeing differently than that. Hinata got it backwards. The Uchiha just look at things. The Hyuuga see beneath."

"Break it up you two. I don't want to see anyone not show up to their match because a stupid squabble. At least you'll have a thousand or so people, including the Hokage and all the Daimyo will be watching." said Jiraiya, folding his arms and leaning against the tree next to him.

"Right you are, this is going to be so fun." I said.

"You said it, Makoto!"

"I wish…" Hinata said quietly, but she stopped.

"Hinata? Is there something wrong?" said Naruto.

"I don't want to see anyone get hurt anymore!" she sobbed. She turned from Neji who was walking away and took off into the village.

"Oh, Hinata! Come on." said Sakura, but Jiraiya and Naruto gave her a dirty look.

"I'll find her." said Jiraiya standing erect after pushing off against the tree, "She can't have gone far."

"Let Naruto find her. I think she'll be more inclined to listen to him." said Kakashi, and he nodded to Naruto.

Naruto took off in a flurry of leaves.

"You know, two emotionally unstable teenagers will just make more unrest." said Jiraiya.

"Which is exactly why we will follow. Sakura, Makoto, please stay behind and spar."

"I'm good for today Kakashi, can't we just get a nice bath…?" said Sakura, turning and winking to me.

"That's fine, I can do that. But watch for Jiraiya, Sakura." I said, giggling.

"Ha, believe me, I'm not interested in your age group." said Jiraiya, sounding disgusted.

They both disappeared in a flurry of leaves as well.

…

"So, Makoto, I'm afraid to face Gaara, if you lose and I win I mean."

I stretched my chest out and saw Sakura staring at me hot in the face. "What, you've never seen breasts before?"

"Seriously Makoto, you don't have to go showing them. Why do you bandage them down anyway? You told me your chest was flat."

"I'm not having them removed or anything. It's just embarrassing to me to flaunt them around. I've never had breasts before, and it's freaky."

"Has your cycle started?"

"No. That was last month. You would know since I would be punching your lights out."

"You see…? I am behind you in every way."

"Don't worry about it! Jeez, aren't we still 13?" I said, sinking into the water.

"One year doesn't even matter anymore." said Sakura. "Plus, how are you going to defeat two ultimate defenses?"

"With patience." I said, smiling and blowing bubbles. "Want to see who can hold our breathe for the longest?"

"Patience? You're the most impatient person I know." said Sakura shook her head.

"I know, so it will be hard. Just like Guy said, patience is the key to mastery."

"What does Kakashi say about that ideology? You were trained specially by him for 5 months and you never once slowed down." said Sakura furrowing her brow.

"So, he plays favorites sometimes, so did Might Guy. What Kakashi said to me also makes sense." I said, I suck one finger in the air. "'Ninja must master the art of battle by learning the Technique and learning to use the Technique.' The reason I never slowed down wasn't impatience, it was fear."

"How does that even _work_?"

"You know, you can use fear to channel anger, or you can ignore it. It's simple, even I know that." I said, "But if you channel your fear to grow stronger and do better the next time, 'you can learn anything within your means.' and Kakashi actually said that to me, that doesn't mean you'll be able to beat Neji, but it means you'll try your best."

"Alright. I may be more scared. My best is-"

"Sakura, shut up, you got nothing to worry about."

"I'm leaving, it's a very high chance that we'll fail at both of our fights, and then we won't be able become Chunin while everyone else will." Sakura said, standing up from the water.

"Sakura, chill out, if you're so afraid of losing in a match, what are you like on missions?"

"Neji and Tenten were right, I'm not going to survive a match with Gaara."

She then reached for her towel and walked back toward the dressing room.

Well, I was inclined to follow her and so I waited until she was dressed and gone before I got dressed. I turned on my Sharingan on so I could see chakra signature.

When Sakura turned down the roads and I followed, I started to think why she was afraid and began thinking of my own reasons for being afraid. Death was scary, and if Gaara had the potential to kill two of Sakura's own team members, then he was scary to me even. I don't know how I would do it, killing someone was just as bad as failing to protect her or Naruto. I already forgot what it felt like to die, but I will never forget what it's like to live and see someone else die.

I still didn't have a plan for Gaara, he was an enigma and there was no way Sakura was backing down from Neji.

When I stopped, I noticed that Sakura was standing in a training field.

"Satoshi, Akira… I'm sorry! Please just come back…" she dropped to her knees, sitting on her haunches and sobbing.

"I can help with that… Hmhmhm…" the familiar face rooted me to my spot up in the trees.

"Huh? Who are you…?"

"I'm the one you know to be a killer of sorts. But if you want to join me, my people will find you. I just want to give you a gift, and later maybe I can bring back your teammates as the bigger prize." I couldn't move quick enough, he extended his neck, bit her, and had already gotten Sakura…

Damn you Orochimaru…

…

 **WARNING! If you skip this chapter you will be losing precious plot moments. Start at chapter 8 and continue until you reach chapter 11. (Note: I posted many chapters at once to catch up.)**


	12. End of Arc 1 - Episode 12

**I'm about to go through stats again. I know I want to feature everyone that's important, like Makoto, Naruto, and Sakura, and those are currently the only people that have changed.**

Sakura: Ninjutsu 2, Taijutsu 3, Genjutsu 3.5, Intelligence 4, Speed 3, Strength 2, Stamina 2, Hand Seals 5, Total: 24.5

Naruto: Ninjutsu 3, Taijutsu 3.5, Genjutsu 2, Intelligence 4.5, Speed 3.5, Strength 3, Stamina 5, Hand Seals 1, Total: 25.5

Makoto: Ninjutsu 3.5, Taijutsu 3.5, Genjutsu 2, Intelligence 4, Speed 3, Strength 2.5, Stamina 4, Hand Seals 3 Total: 25.5

 **Oh and about this chapter- I'm going to go back and edit some later. I just wanted to get this out there so I can move on.**

...

"Sakura you've got to wake up..." I said as I shook her near lifeless body. The cursed seal was going to kill her… her body isn't strong enough. She passed out and I knew she was dying… I had to carry her to the hospital.

I picked her up and shunshined to hospital as quickly as I could…

When Sakura woke up lying in my arms with nurses surrounding us she screamed.

"I know… the pain is terrible but you must try to live. The Cursed Seal that you have is reacting badly."

"Ma… ko… to…" Sakura groaned. She passed out again, but maybe the prognosis was worse when Kakashi arrived outside her door when the screams stopped and she had been fully treated. I attacked Kakashi with a hug.

"I was too scared to move; the curse mark is reacting worse than mine she said…"

"Alright, I know, but who exactly said this and why?" said Kakashi.

"Excuse me… I really hate to break it to you both but Sakura isn't waking up anytime soon…"

I released Kakashi and turned to a busty blonde woman with brown eyes. She was wearing the Hokage hat. "You didn't tell me that you were now the Hokage!" I said.

"Yeah and I didn't either until the Hokage was reported to be dead by nightfall. I got a message from Jiraiya and was just given the honor several minutes beforehand, but it seems our killer didn't strike only the Hokage. Are you aware when your team were attacked by Orochimaru that Sasuke was also given the cursed seal that later was the cause of his death? The same thing is happening to Sakura, but this time we were able to save your teammate." said Tsunade.

"So she's sleeping?"

"She will miss the Chunin Exam finals, but luckily, she'll wake up and will be healthy enough to watch. She's very confused because paralysis has set in and it will start to go away soon, but she'll have a long road to recovery."

"Can I go in and see her? Will she be able to speak?" I said.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt… she can speak."

I was first to come in through the door, expecting the worst, but nothing was worse than this…

"Where is she? Did we get the wrong room?" I said and my heart sunk. "Oh my god."

"She's gone… I can't have this mess on me right now, damnit. Kakashi, start a search party. What I think we should do is search the streets-"

A ninja appeared in a puff of smoke... "Tsunade-sama the barrier squad just reported 5 minutes ago that a whole squad and three extra people were leaving the village. What should we do? All the ninja on duty we cannot risk using because we have many foreign ninja are present. Now that the previous Hokage is now-"

Tsunade screamed at the top of her lungs, "What do you mean we need all of the ninja on staff?! Don't make me angry!"

"I'm sorry…" said Kakashi calmly, "But I believe we can put together a small team to track them rather than mass-exodus. Maybe we pull together the four people that will work the best together and Makoto will lead them.

"It might just work."

"Wait a minute. It's really important, I know that… but don't you think someone else can lead those people!?"

"Well I see no other way, Makoto. Are you afraid to be the leader of this team?" said Tsunade. "If you say yes you're dead."

"Get Shikamaru, Neji, Choji, and Kiba." I said, "We're going to save her."

…

We took off into the night with the wind whipping our ears, and we jumped from branch to branch heading further north after I found and could follow their chakra signatures with my eyes. The cruel fact was, I didn't know where this would lead me. Fate lead me here today, and Fate would either lead me along with my makeshift team to success, or to my doom at the Valley of the End.

I had no idea where to even begin with the similarities, but I wouldn't be fighting Sasuke… I knew there were three extra people. Naruto stormed out the meeting room for the council, I suspected the worst had yet to come. Naruto was practically unbeatable now with his Eternal Mangekyou. But the thing is I had mine as well.

We came into a clearing and I could feel one of the chakra centers was closer. It was like his massive chakra was overwhelming, and when a rock giant flew towards us, I smashed it with my chakra enhanced strength.

"Hm. You guys may be tougher than you look." said the fat guy, "Name's Jirobo, I'm the one who will stop you guys in your tracks."

I activated my Chidori. "Chidori Current!"

The Lighting went everywhere, but Jirobo grabbed in in his hands and began to eat the chakra he caught. Just what I wanted. He fell over, but instead of being paralyzed he just looked angry. I could tell it worked to some extent though.

"Makoto, let me handle this guy." said Choji.

"The Chidori Stream reassimilated inside of him and tore up his insides instead of being absorbed… don't worry about his outward strength and try to avoid his hits. Strike him good once and you'll be able to beat him." I said

"So why didn't you just fry him?" said Choji. "How did you know he could absorb chakra?"

"An attack from the inside was better. And I didn't… I expected Chidori Current to knock him out somewhat so we could all go… but Choji, be careful, he doesn't look like a weakling."

"Right, so come on, he's starting to recover." said Neji.

We all took off into the trees and circled around the clearing to find that slightly down the road, Tayuya was waiting.

"So, who's going to be my lucky opponent? The useless weakling looks good." said Tayuya. "Hey, Nara boy… you were in the finals of the Exams weren't you? Try and catch me with that shadow of yours."

Shikamaru groaned, "How Troublesome… I have to fight a woman."

"Yeah, now come at me you sissy."

We took a dive around and Neji and Kiba stopped in another clearing where there were webs everywhere…

"Well, looks like I have three choices… who will be caught in my web…" said Kidomaru

"Neji, your defense is greater than anyone else's. Try going head to head." I said. "Come on Kiba."

We kept going and going for hours, it was almost morning and we finally caught sight of the last two Chakra Center and Kiba said, "Keep going Makoto! This guy is mine."

…

When I reached the Valley of the End, Naruto had tried up Sakura and she was still unconscious and probably still paralyzed. We stood, the leaves from the surrounding trees, and our hair blew in the wind.

"Give her back."

"We've already given her Sasuke's Sharingan… there will be no giving her back unless you fight me." He then picked up and threw Sakura down the waterfall, but a rope made her dangle there under the direct current of the water. I tried to jump towards her and Naruto stopped me by punching me straight into the wall of rock on Hashirama's side. He was so strong! How was I going to defeat him?

He used his eye the next moment to lock onto me with formerly my own right eye. I called it the Hawk-Eye Sharingan. It gives 20/2 vision, you can follow movement perfectly and you can even zoom in on an opponent for the loss in peripheral vision. I still had this power myself so I act I used it to lock onto him as well, and I jumped back from the the other side of the of the waterfall to meet his fist.

"Damn you Naruto! You're just finding an excuse to abandon the village. Who cares about our father? Who cares about Itachi? Sasuke may have told me to kill every Uchiha that stood in my way, but why must you offer Sakura's body to Orochimaru- is that what you're doing? What do you have to gain from this? And why can't you just accept me as your sister rather than just a wall keeping you from achieving greatness? What about Hokage?" I said

Naruto smiled and laughed. "There was a time when I had a dream… this dream kept me going for a long time. But after entering Anbu at 11 I was changed. People looked at me different. They saw my strength, but I could never get over losing my squad which ended my career. I didn't ever want to see my best friends die. When Sasuke died, it all made sense.

"He told me that I must betray the village to find the killer of my squad and my best friend Akira. She was everything to me. When I saw Sasuke actually happy to be with you, after a year of hiding in your shadow at the Academy, I decided to take him away from you. I swore allegiance to Orochimaru when he asked if I wanted power.

"And do you know the person who took away my innocence? It was our father. You are dead to me… I never wanted a spawn of another great failure to be just like him."

"You're wrong. I will not fail you or anyone else."

"Then why did you lose control during the fight Sasuke died in? Wgt fight for only yourself? You're exactly like me. Lonely, with no friends… no family. And you want to kill me don't you?"

"I can save you… you don't have to do this."

"Then fight me and die. You can't save me!"

We bounced off the two large statues of Madara and Hashirama, but he didn't do more than a glancing blow until he kicked me down into the water from above with the Lion Combo. Imagine a backwards belly flop off a tall, giant diving board. The Kyuubi saved my life as I floated there, I could see Naruto hanging there on a wall, and he barreled towards me as I tried to regain self awareness.

I stood up on the water and dashed away. Since there was a lot of water, I went through all the Hand Seals twice as fast as I normally did and used the Water Dragon Bullet technique.

It slammed straight into the waterfall, but he had replaced his body with a Shadow Clone. By this time red Chakra was cloaking me and I was on all fours, my mangekyou was fully activated in both eyes and I used Susanoo as well as my 360 vision in conjunction with it. Naruto used his Susanoo, which was more developed than mine since he had trained it for longer. He didn't think to use my powers in his Sharingan or his Tailed Beast Cloak.

I Susanoo's clashed weapons, and my dual blade Susanoo sliced through his shield, but the double edged sword of Naruto's Susanoo knocked the left blade out of my Susanoo.

I felt very faint for a moment, and I realized my Ninetails Chakra Cloak was starting to take control of my actions. I had already gotten to three tails, and I felt the fourth one coming, while my own reserves were dwindling. Flashing through the after images of the fight, My Susanoo was deactivated, I slammed my claws into Naruto, and he stood at the end of the waterfall, half dead. However, Naruto had gotten away, but Kakashi laid me next to Sakura, and I woke up.

"Hey. You okay?" she said with her new Sharingan eyes.

"Yeah… maybe just because you're safe. Can you move?"

She sat up, and so did I.

"Why did Naruto betray us?" Sakura asked.

I tackled and hugged her. "Sakura… I never knew you would make me fight so hard. Sakura, I love you, and I don't know what that means to you, but it means a lot to me."

Kakashi smiled. "Well, if you girls want to go back…"

"Sasuke's eyes are within me now… I bet I'll be able to control these in no time." said Sakura, patting me on the back.

"Sasuke would have wanted you to have them." I said. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

…

Part 1, officially complete! Yeah, didn't expect this to be a really big finish… still, I could have done better. But the timeskip will happen next therefore more excitement will come sooner rather than later.

Okay? What's on your mind? Review please to tell me what you think. Also, if you think it's arbitrary to put an OC that means nothing to story, in other words a girl named Akira, well, she's actually not dead and will become a very big part of the story in the future of this story. Naruto just think's she is dead when really she's still alive.


	13. Home and The Fight Arc - Episode 13

**Alright, so there will be some stat changes. Read through them, and yes, I know Naruto is overpowered because he's probably the strongest character for a reason. Do I know this reason? No. And I'm probably going to regret it.**

Stats After Time Skip

Sakura: Ninjutsu 2.5, Taijutsu 3, Genjutsu 4, Intelligence 4, Speed 3, Strength 2.5, Stamina 3, Hand Seals 5, Total: 27

Naruto: Ninjutsu 5, Taijutsu 4, Genjutsu 3, Intelligence 5, Speed 4, Strength 4, Stamina 5, Hand Seals 4, Total: 34

Makoto: Ninjutsu 4, Taijutsu 3.5, Genjutsu 3, Intelligence 4, Speed 3.5, Strength 3.5, Stamina 4, Hand Seals 3, Total: 28.5

 **Another quick update since I won't be posting at all come after the 17th if December. I'll be rereading everything that I post anyway during the Christmas/New Year season. Expect good, edited chapters after I'm don't. I might be doing things for Christmas and maybe the New Years, so that's why I'm speaking to you now a 2 weeks in advance plus will stop writing after the 17th. Plus, I work, so don't get your heart set on a chapter every day of t. If this chapter seems not at all proofread, it's because it wasn't proofread. Same with the last chapter. Hopefully I don't regret this.**

…

I walked up the familiar village gates smiling, my headband around my head for the first time. Ever since Sakura and I had our rivalry had gone on since the equivalent of middle school, I was ready to see her again and make the statement that I was a stronger woman this time.

If she saw me with my headband around my head, she would probably punch me in the face. It was a sign that we were real ninja now, but unfortunately, we had been out of touch because of our distance away from each other.

I crossed the world to study with Jiraiya and learn new things that would help me on my way. Something that made me feel powerful—no lie. But I was still not ready to be an equal to Naruto. If anything, Naruto would kill me the first chance he got.

It wasn't a spectacular thing to walk through the streets alone because Jiraiya had left me to head home halfway to the village suddenly. I was alone right now and I'd probably go visit everyone. Still, ever since Jiraiya left me, I've decided rest would be a wonderful experience. If I never turned to my apartment for a day of rest, and walked up the stairs to the rundown complex where I live, I never would I was greeted by an Anbu.

"Who are you?"

She took her mask off and said, "Hello, you must be Makoto."

The Anbu smiled, and what was distinct about this Anbu was her familiar red eyes.

"What the…" I said.

Her face fell, "I know you're shocked to see me, and you don't even know me, but Naruto was not the one who received the Yin-half of the Kyuubi. They've kept me secret for a long time. My name Akira. I knew your brother when he was working undercover to protect you."

"You're Akira? I was told by Naruto on the day he left…"

"Not even Naruto knows he isn't a Jinchuuriki. He never knew because he received part of the Yin-half's Chakra, and apparently, he figured it out just recently because it had run out. I've been tracking him ever since he left. You could say I was more of a sister than a fellow Anbu, because we are of the same bond, but not blood. That's part of the reason why I was kept secret, and not even he knew we were related." said Akira.

"Akira, where have you been? I never had any family until 2 years ago." I said, mesmerized by her story, "Come on in, I'll make some tea."

We went into the small apartment. My things had been perfectly dusted and vacuumed while I was gone.

My first that was, "Did you do this?"

"No, it was a kind pink haired girl that had the Sharingan. I asked her as she left and she told me she had been doing it for 2 years." Akira said.

"Damn Sakura, you're good at cleaning…" I mumbled.

"Hmm?" said Akira.

"Well, she said she was never much of a 'help around the house' kind of girl to her mom. She's pretty much a tomboy." I said, "She still did an excellent job, she also killed the roaches."

"So, I see who wears the pants now… hmm…" said Akira

"What?! No, she didn't say anything about that, did she?" I shrieked.

"That you went on a date before you left? Yes, she told me all about that. You're more of a tomboy than her, you must wear the pants, am I right? Relax, girls do this all the time." she gave a laugh but I could tell it was fake.

"Are you normally this unemotional?" I said sarcastically.

"Oh, yes, I was a member of Root… certain things you have to let go to join." she said.

"Right." I said, "You're clueless about social cues aren't you. Don't worry, people often call me blunt."

"Oh, really?" Akira question.

"Yes, quite often." I mimicked her tone.

"Oh… so would reading about things like this help? I read a lot." said Akira, totally clueless to the joke. I'm going to have fun.

"Yeah, knock yourself out." I said.

"I am aware of that phrase, so don't actually do it, right?"

She was like a 4-year-old, but much smarter. She knew that I was joking that time.

"No, don't actually do it." I sighed, "Anyway, I've got some ginger tea."

"Want me to help you fix it?"

"Um, no… I can handle it."

"Are you nervous? I don't want anyone to get burned so that's why I'm offering."

"I'm actually not that much younger than you… and—wait, did the Hokage send you?" I probed.

"Yes, and she's a very nice woman, I've met her on multiple occasions through these last years, but she didn't seem to appreciate company."

"Well, all people have to be away a little while. Things will never cool down."

I put the brewing tea on the counter after I warmed the water in the microwave and put the tea bag in.

"Want me to blow on it?" Akira said suddenly.

"I'm not a child. Jeez, I'm 15." I said.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I'm clueless… so sorry." said bowing low.

"Look, you didn't run into me on in the road or something, you can just nod your head. We're sisters, right?" I said, giving a harassed smile.

Akira bowed lower. "Right. Sorry, I just grew up as a Root Anbu and rather someone who works for the Hokage, and these people aren't even allowed into the village very often because Danzo needs us. We treat each other like brothers and sisters of the same feather and when one of us does something wrong… well anyway. I'm one of the few female Root, many aren't even selected… sorry—"

"Jeez, you're so paranoid that I don't like you, you know? I used to be like you. Clueless and afraid of not being accepted, but once you find your friends, there's nothing to be afraid of." I said, beaming.

"Right. Okay." Akira said. "And how did you find your friends?"

"I dunno. They all sort of fell in my lap." I said, shrugging, "I have plenty of books, they're in the broom closet since there's no other place for them."

"Alright, do you have any books on etiquette?"

"A few… they're probably out dated…" I said. "They were when I got them from the previous Hokage."

"So, you knew the previous Hokage? I know Danzo and him were rivals." said Akira, looking at the books I gave her. She then whipped around to sit on the bed.

"Do you respect Danzo?" I said.

"Can't say, we're not supposed to talk about him personally." she said.

"Oh, I guess it's a secrecy thing, sorry for asking." I said.

"Makoto! Open this door, you forgot to come by my place!"

I ran over to the door and let Sakura in.

"You shouldn't have gone straight home. And there's that girl again saying she was looking for you. Why are you lounging on her bed?! And no, you don't have your headband around your head—that's unfair. You haven't seen what I can do yet."

"But Sakura-san, you have your headband around your head!" said Akira.

"Sakura, come on." I said, "We're not kids."

"Then that's just an excuse isn't it. The messenger the Hokage-sama sent didn't send the message, did she? We're supposed to go to my place."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

…

"Surprise! Welcome back."

This was the most people I've ever seen in a room. Shikamaru and his team, Hinata and hers, both including their sensei and my own. There was team Ebisu also here. Akira hid behind me as the sight of all these people. "And for an early birthday, Asuma got you a gift…"

"It's something that might come in handy, a tool that absorbs chakra… I personally think a sword like this would suit you." Asuma came forward and presented it to me.

"Um, okay! Does it have a name?" I said.

"You name it, each blade should be personalized to have a name. I've named mine Left-Hook and Right-Slash." he said.

"So, cool Uncle Asuma!"

I lifted it and drew the one-handed blade. It was balanced perfectly. Sheathed it and said, "Kusanagi. Means grass cutter."

"Perfect!" said Sakura.

"Alright… so why the big party?" I asked

"To celebrate, right?" said Akira. Some of the people laughed. She gave a nervous smile.

"Oh yeah, this is Akira, she's my older half-sister that I just met today. She's from Root, so you know that Danzo took away all her emotions."

"Danzo is a good leader… I don't know why he didn't become Hokage." said Akira.

"So, Kira-chan. You don't have any emotions?" said Udon.

"No, and I'm bad at recognizing them as well. But I'm going to the Konoha Library next week to work on learning etiquette and other things."

"So, wait, you can't take a joke?" said Kiba.

"Kibbles, shut your mouth." I said, Akamaru growled. I reach out to pet him, but he bit at me.

"So, we're all grown up now." said Sakura's mom. "You want some cake?" she pulled out a plate and offered it to me with a bow.

"I'd love cake. What kind?"

"Chocolate with white vanilla frosting… Sakura said it was your favorite."

"Yeah, she knows me." I said, laughing.

"You have such great friends Makoto-chan. Do you mind if I call you that?" my sister said, "I wish I had found friends, but Anbu aren't the friendly type."

"It's better than Imouto… we just met today okay?" I said to Akira. "And they're your friends now too."

"I especially want to be friends the cute guy with the ponytail."

"Aggh, what? Troublesome…"

We all laughed except for Akira.

"What's troublesome?" she said.

"You apparently." said Kiba.

Akira looked sad.

"I'm a taller woman than before, okay Kiba, do I need to measure the size difference?" I said, "What happened to Guy and Lee's team?"

"They're out tracking Naruto. Apparently since he went rogue, he's strayed to places around the world with a group of people." said Akira.

"And so, they sent the loudest two on a team, who also scream youth every five seconds to find Naruto…" I said. "Great, were all doomed."

"Well, they are the strongest team. Both Lee and Tenten are Chunin, and Neji is a Jonin."

"And what ever happened to Gaara and his brother and sister after they saved you guys during the retrieval mission?"

"Gaara had a change in heart since he fought you in the Chunin Exam Finals. He said he wasn't afraid to let another Jinchuuriki take his shot at being a leader instead of living for himself. He became Kazekage."

"That's a good job… the leader of the village! While I'm still a Genin." I said.

"But it is a good job!" said Akira with a louder, more distinct voice, but she managed to miss the point again…

"Alright…" I sighed. "What next, we going to tear through the cake or what?"

…

Okay, so this is where the story turns... um, if you're wondering what's happening after this... well I won't tell.


End file.
